When the class ended Thisbe watched most of the students shuffle out of the large building as if in a sad daze. She got the feeling no one wanted to join the rest of the school with the odd tension ebbing and flowing like glowing waves on a rocky shore. Be was thankful she didn't have to leave just yet and could spend more time with Kehinde talking about this and that.

"K, wanna check out this shit I drew?" Thisbe questioned as she made her way to her Mentor that sat deeply engrossed in whatever she herself was sketching at.

"Yeah, sure," she mumbled in a distracted tone before erasing something and then shutting her book. Her eyes were glassy but she quickly hid each expression away as she stood from the table and put on her award winning smile, "Let's have a look, shall we?"

Thisbe returned the mouth stretch as she took a seat on the long table beside Kehinde and opened up the first page, "This is my soul mate, Pyramus. He doesn't really have that long gash. I don't know why I added that but each time I wanted to erase it my hand just wouldn't let me."

"I know what you mean," she frowned slightly, "But this…this looks brilliant. None of my third formers have any skill like this and here you are with no training at all. Nyx was right."

"I've been meaning to ask. What else did Nyx say about me?" Thisbe suddenly questioned.

Kehinde's expression turned soft as she dipped her head away and motioned for Be to follow her, "Come with me. I want to show you all the things I made about you."

"Oh?"

Be felt thoroughly excited to see what could have been revealed about her in such a limited medium. With writing you could capture years on pages but with art? Everything was a fixed image. She wondered what could have been explained about her. K smiled as she began walking back toward that closet hallway with the cubbies at the entrance, "Tell me more about Pyramus, will you?"

"Sure," she grinned as she held onto the necklace between her hands, "He's incredible. He knows me better than anyone else in the entire universe. We met when we were five and have never been apart since."

Kehinde paused halfway to the door and looked with that serious face that aged her again, "No…really. Tell me about him. Tell me what you love."

Thisbe nodded and closed her eyes for a second before taking in a deep breath and then speaking while they both began to walk once more, "He's got these dynamite green fucking eyes. These things. Everyone in his family has them but his are different. Everyone else has these cat eyes…always watching, judging, thinking and his. They're like…I don't know. Sweet, light, like mossy rain. Everything in the world could be falling apart but I see those eyes and I know shit can't touch us. Not ever. He's Bengali so he's got this dark, rich skin that I adore. Sometimes when I'm mad at him or someone's got beef with him he says, 'Is it cause I'm black?' and everyone laughs cause…he is black. It's funny. He's…so funny sometimes though he's the most serious person I know. He looks so tough but anything can get him down. He doesn't hurt me…like ever and when he does he takes it harder than I do. We get or make or do things for each other all the time. Little presents and shit. No reason. We just get it."

They were in the dimly lit space by now and Be had decided to stop speaking then. She wanted to focus on where Kehinde was taking her because it seemed like Narnia wasn't too far off. Like she had noticed before the long hallway went the entire length of the building but it was clear only ¼ of the cubbies were in use. She found it cool how they were under lock and key and she knew that who ever owned the cubby had the key themselves. It was a secret place to hide things and keep things safe and she doubted anyone else in the school had that kind of security.

"Do you have anyone in your life?" Be asked awkwardly, feeling rude for taking up so much of the conversation.

"No," K shook her head shyly, her eyes focused on where they were heading, "I had a boyfriend when I was a fledgling but he didn't make the Change."

"Wow, that fucking sucks," Thisbe grumbled as she considered the kind of heart break that must have surrounded her Mentor, "You must be happy you got me as a protégé since I'm pretty much guaranteed to make it, thanks to this funny little Mark."

"Nothing in life is guaranteed," K whispered, "Even if you do make the Change. Anything can happen. Anyone can hurt you."

"You're morose as fuck aren't you?" it wasn't really a question but Be tried to laugh and play it off. She threw her arm around the woman's shoulders and squeezed them gently, "Come on, let's cheer up a little."

Kehinde chuckled softly as she shook her head as if to get rid of the darkness floating behind her eyes, "You're right. I guess my nerves are all over the place. I was so afraid you wouldn't like me."

"That's crazy. So far you're the only person I actually do like. I'm glad you swiped me before Neferet could. I mean she's cool and all but I'm really happy to have you."

"Me too," she nodded before stopping almost all the way at the end and pulling out a key, "This is another huge secret of mine. I've hidden some of my work all around the school for safekeeping and this is just one of my places. This is where I kept all the things I have for you."

Thisbe's eyes grew wide as she watched K pull first out of the drawer a six inch statue of her and Ram dancing. She grasped it immediately and looked at it as she tried to contain her joy, "This is the coolest fucking thing I have ever seen. Shit this is amazing. My God! Can I keep it? When we get married we can have it in our house and shit and it'll be so cute. Everyone will love it."

"Of course," Kehinde laughed as she pulled out a small folder of drawings. She began to rifle through them with Be staring over her shoulder and Be was totally impressed. She knew that she herself was good but her Mentor was on an unstoppable level, "This is your locket here that got me thinking about you liking space. Here is another one of you and Pyramus…I'm sorry it's of an intimate moment. It just came to me."

"Hey, you're bound to see my boobs as my Mentor anyway," Thisbe shrugged.

"This is of you as a child playing in the forest. That got me thinking you might like nature. Here is you sleeping on your couch and I noticed you were covered all in comfortable blankets so I figured you liked having soft things. This is just a glimpse of your room and, again I'm sorry Pyramus is naked here but this let me know what an incredible slob you are."

She let out a teasing smile and Be laughed with her as she lightly pushed her arm, "Hey, watch your fucking mouth."

"I don't think you and the High Priestess in training are going to get along with that," she joked.

Thisbe glanced away and considered their not so warm morning, "I don't think we're gonna get along at all."

"I don't think so either," she sighed, flipping to the next page, "This is you and her in the middle of a heated debate."

"Shit do I have extended tats here?" Be mused.

Kehinde nodded proudly, "Why yes you do. The rest are just miscellaneous items. This one is by far my favorite though."

Thisbe's face went blood red as she watched the stunning watercolor image of her hitting the bong like a fucking champ, "Shit, I was hoping I could tell you about that little habit myself."

"You know, the House of Night is pretty lax on the consumption of alcohol. I'm pretty sure you won't get in too much trouble if you get caught. I suggest though, you don't make a habit of other professors finding out. Am I understood?"

"Aye, aye, Captain," Thisbe nodded, "Why do you think Nyx gave you all this about me? I mean, this is pretty detailed."

There was that frown again, "You asked me to cheer up, Thisbe, let's save that conversation for another day."

"Alright, you're the boss. Let's smoke some weed about it, eh?"

"Oh, Thisbe."

"Come on, we need a pick me up."