The next morning, Celi woke up still asleep. She had been up so late finishing the homework she had missed the night before, and now she was paying for it. But Stripe was used to rising early and getting his breakfast equally early, and Celi knew that she had to get up and practice before the bell rang. She was in for a hard day. She pulled herself out of bed and began her practice. Stripe took over the warm spot on her bed to watch.

Celi's body followed its patterns easily while her mind wandered. She had finished her homework, but she wouldn't be surprised if she fell asleep in glass, garnering herself a detention. She prayed she wouldn't. She and James were planning on going shopping on the weekend, ad the others had promised to come as well. Midwinter was upon them, after all. Master haMinch had promised the pages the following Sunday off – providing they didn't get any detentions over the course of the week. It was a hard bargain. It being Friday morning, already Seamus and Kasi were long gone, having received numerous detentions for their pranks, as well as Gregory and Angus. Their numbers were diminishing.

Celi finished her exercises and changed into her breeches and tunic. Just as she walked out the door, the bell for breakfast rang. James bounded out of his room just as Celi passed. "Excellent, we're making good time. Promise you won't be insubordinate today."

Celi groaned. "Do I have to? I was so looking forward to destroying Master haMinch's office!"

"Ha, ha. Don't fall asleep in class."

"Am I really the one you should be talking to?"

They stood over their seats, waiting for the room to fill. Vasin ran in just as the bell rang. Celi grinned at him: "Don't make that mistake again," she said.

Vasin grinned back. "Of course not, then I wouldn't be able to get you a Midwinter gift."

They sat down and ate their meal quickly. Take time to converse, and they would be late for class. They weren't risking it. After running smoothly through their morning training and making it successfully through lunch, Celi was ready to take on the afternoon.

She jogged down a busy hallway to her first class. Suddenly, she felt a tug, and her foot fell out from under her. She fell backwards and landed on her behind, struggling with an armload of books. She heard snickering from the boys around her. "The girl can't even walk properly." Her papers were scattered everywhere. A few people stepped over them, but no one stopped to help. None of them wanted to be late for class. Quickly gathering her papers before anyone actually stepped on them, she ran to class, knowing exactly who it was who had knocked her over. She certainly hadn't just fallen.

She made it to class with not a moment to spare.

"Vasin," she said as they handed in their homework, "I can't find it."

"Did you do it?" He friend whispered.

Celi nodded. "Yes," she said, "Of course! I must have missed it when I was picking everything up this morning. Bloody hell."

"Are you kidding?" Vasin hissed. "You did it! James is going to be upset. Looks like you're stuck."

"I know, I must have.." she swore. Someone had knocked her over in the hallway – she had already forgotten about that. She probably missed it when she was picking everything up. She leaned over and told Vasin what she remembered.

He frowned. "Or maybe someone stole it. Tell him."

Celi shook her head. "I can't, I'll just be in more trouble if I make excuses." She sighed. "I guess I'll be shopping another day."

Celi wasn't looking forward to telling James. She thought about that even as she was stood in front of the class and assigned detention. She knew James wouldn't even be that upset with her – she was upset. She didn't know why it bothered her so much. How much did this trip to Corus really mean to her? She didn't see James all afternoon. He had to know already that she had a detention. Vasin wouldn't have kept it to himself.

James wasn't yet there when Celi arrived at dinner. He still wasn't there when the bell rang.

"Looks like you won't be the only one missing a shopping trip this weekend." Angus muttered as they stood by their benches, waiting to be allowed to sit.

"Why do you know that?" Celi snapped. "Did Vasin tell everyone?"

"Pretty much," Leroy muttered in return.

Celi frowned. "Where is he?"

Before she could even finish her sentence, the door opened and James ran in, joining his friends at the bench. Master haMinch cleared his throat and said with his frown that James had just given himself a detention.

"Evening, chaps." James said after the evening prayer. "Were we waiting long?"

Celi frowned. "Why would you give yourself a detention like that?"

James' eyes flashed menacingly, in a way that Celi had never seen in him before.

"Why would you?"

Celi stared at him. "Are you angry with me? I'm sorry, James. I lost my homework."

James shrugged. "Whatever." He changed the subject.

Celi was hurt. James had never spoken to her like that before. He had always been cool and unflappable, like his father before him. Celi begged Ella that night to go to the markets and purchase some candy for her friends. She would give a few, James and Angus and the twins, something of her own. Ella agreed.

That evening, Celi joined her friends in Angus' room to do their homework. Oddly, whenever Celi looked up, James would be looking at her. Sometimes he would look away quickly, but sometimes he would just smile.

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Atlanta Enchanted: yes, short. As was this one. But I have a story line written, so it should come a bit faster now!

Imakeladrygirl: thanks!

EvilGirlChild: yay for fluff indeed.

Seirien: that's actually only one word, you know.

Maliaphire: you know, I'm not quite sure. It is highly possible that I was functioning on very little sleep when I last posted. I honestly couldn't tell you what the hell I was talking about.

"I can't stand cheap people. It makes me real mad when someone says something like, "Hey, when are you going to pay me that $100 you owe me?" or "Do you have that $50 you borrowed?" Man, quit being so cheap!"

Enjoy.

-unolimbo