Hi! No, I have not been taken to Hades' realm! I hope you liked the last chapter! This one's quite short as well, sorry, but I felt like it was a good place to end it. I know I promised a longer chapter but - sorry. The next chapter will be a bit odd, as there'll be a lot of time-jumps in it, but it should be longer.

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, followed or favourited my story. It really means a lot. Everytime I go on my account and see a new follower or review, I have to really restrain myself from squealing in excitement. I'm 13, I get easily excited, and I'm a bit of a nerd. What can I say?

Hope you like this chapter!

The house was quiet. The stars shone, and a small thread of moonlight slipped through our curtains and onto the grey carpeted floor. I couldn't sleep. I sat on my bed, my knees pulled up to my chest, my cheek resting on my kneecaps. CJ and Meg slept soundly, unaware that I wasn't in dreamland like them.

A light breeze drafted through our slightly-open window. The cool wind felt good. I was struck with an idea. It wasn't exactly original, as I had read about it in a book, but I liked it all the same. I pulled my sheet from my bed and grabbed my pillow before sneaking over to the window. I pushed it open wide, and slipped between the frames.

Outside, I felt free. I tied my sheet around my waist and held my pillow between my teeth. Gripping a pipe, I hauled myself up onto our windowsill. I continued climbing from there, scaling the wall. I passed the second floor windows, and gripped the gutter pipe on the roof. Straining my arm muscles, I pulled myself onto the flat, slightly-sloped roof. I sat my pillow on the concrete and laid down, staring up at the stars. I was surprised I could see them - there had been a lot of clouds that morning.

Up on the roof felt really peaceful. I was alone, the breeze sliding over my bare arms, keeping me cool, and I felt like I was going to fall asleep.

Footsteps on the roof made me jump. I looked up to see Lachlan staring up at the stars.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked. I didn't know what to say, but it didn't matter, as Lachlan continued as if I wasn't there. "I love the sky," he murmured. "It's ever-changing. The sky is never the same. There's always something different." He looked at me then, before speaking once more. "It's a bit like the sea, without the restless attitude. Ever-changing." The last two words were spoken in a whisper.

The thirteen-year-old walked over and sat beside me before asking, "What do you think?"

"Ever-changing is a good way to describe the sky," I replied. "There's always something different. Not out of place - just different."

Lachlan hummed in agreement, and I continued, "It's not like the sea. The sea is ever-changing too, but it's restless, colourful, and dangerous. The sky is calm, mysterious and beautiful. I still love the sea, though," I tacked on as an afterthought.

"Of course you do," Lachlan chuckled.

"I still don't get why you like flying so much," I commented. "At any moment, you could plunge to your death."

Lachlan replied, "Well, you could drown in the sea."

"Touché."

We sat in silence for a while, before I noticed Lachlan looked like he was trying to force himself to stay awake.

"You really should sleep," I told him.

"Don't want to move," he mumbled in reply.

"Well then, just wait here."

Before he could protest, I had swung myself off the roof and was clambering back down the wall. I dashed to my bedroom and silently dragged the pillow and blanket from the spare bed before climbing out of the window and scaling the wall again. When I reached the roof, Lachlan was fast asleep, his head resting on his left arm. I lifted him up and slid half of the sheet under him and the other half I laid over him. I gently raised his head and slipped the pillow under him before resting his head down on it.

Quietly, I set up a 'bed' for myself in the same fashion, before laying down on my back and counting the stars.

It was very early morning when I woke. I heard movement coming from the room below me - which was the female adults' room. I knew they'd be checking all of the bedrooms to make sure everyone was awake soon. I glanced over at Lachlan. He was still asleep. I easily roused him and together we scrambled down the side of the building and parted so that Lachlan could run around to the other side of the dormitories.

When I entered my shared bedroom, Meg and CJ were still asleep. I watched them with a small smile on my face before turning to my small set of drawers that housed my clothes. After a short five minutes of contemplating what to wear, I'd decided on a simple black knee-length skirt, black leggings, my sea-green chucks, a simple, plain black t-shirt, and a denim jacket with a black dragon sewn on the back. The dragon's one visible eye was made from a sea-green rhinestone. Once dressed, I strode over to where CJ slept and poked her in the back until she woke. Knowing that Meg was a very deep sleeper, we sneaked into the bathroom and filled up a glass of water each. We creeped back into the bedroom and over to where Meg was sleeping soundly. Silently, I looked at CJ and nodded. Together, we mouthed one, two, then yelled out 'THREE!', tipping the water over Meg's head. She woke up, spluttering, and attempted to glare at us. We all burst into giggles when she failed miserably.

Compared to my ten minutes getting changed, Meg and CJ randomly grabbed clothes and threw them on.

We walked down to the dining hall to find most of the kids already there. Only Daniel was absent, and I laughed inwardly at the most likely reason for him to be late. I whispered my theory to Meg and CJ, who laughed quietly as we walked to the table our friends sat at.

"What re you laughing about?" Sophie asked.

"Daniel," CJ replied.

"What about him?" India asked. Jack and Lachlan had caught on, but the others didn't.

Meg told her, "Just a reason he may be late, involving hair gels, moisturiser and other beauty products."

Our whole table was fighting back laughter, and was still giggling when Daniel arrived and sat down. He looked at us confusedly and said, "What?"

Hope you liked that chapter! Like I said, next chapter'll be a bit odd, but bear with me please!

I'll try to update again as soon as I can, but we're nearing the crisis point of our school musical, Dreamgirls, rehearsals, so I'm super-extra-ultra busy at the moment! As soon as the production's over, I'll update more regularly, but for now, I'm sorry if updates are quite spaced apart!

Thanks,

BJ :-)