The sound of voices all talking at once filled in the large gymnasium, reminding Thisbe that she was no only clueless but alone. Despite having a "special day" that allowed her to stay with Kehinde instead of attending classes there was one period she could not get away from: Taekwondo—or in reality what ever fighting class she was put into. Be wondered why she was in this particular class but then she recalled that she didn't make her schedule; her Mentor did. Everything would be a surprise that she didn't choose but despite having no control over her classes she decided to try and make the best of everything.

The wayward glances from the students that caught sight of her reminded her of the operative word.

Try.

"Locker rooms are open!"

The voice boomed across the room from every direction, making it nearly impossible for Thisbe to figure out where the lone owner was standing.

"You have five minutes to change! If you are not on the mat by the time stretches begin I'll have you washing everyone's dobok by hand!"

It wasn't until she heard a much younger voice comically adding, "Especially mine!" that she saw the faces.

They stood at the head of the large blue mat that took up almost the entire length of the floor and they were already dressed in their black outfits that Thisbe assumed was the dobok. At the center of the group was a tall, muscular Korean man with hard eyes narrowed on the students grumbling toward the locker rooms located to the right of the entrance. His hair was black and kept in a man-bun on top of his head while his hands rested firmly on his hips in a Superman pose that was the ultimate expression of authority. He was too far away to see what his vampyre tattoos were but she knew they would be cool.

On either side of him was a guy slightly shorter than the teacher but they both had their arms crossed over their chests like flunkies. Thisbe could see the guy on the right had the arms cut off at the shoulders of his dobak to show his muscles and the other had strange patches lining his chest and arms. They all looked like 80s high school bullies and it wasn't until the last student entered the locker room that they broke into smiles of gentle joy.

Thisbe took this time to move from where she hid behind the level of bleachers and toward the men. Their smiles vanished into seriousness and she could see there was nervousness inside of their eyes. She felt as though she could feel their shared minds questioned: did she see our weakness?

"Why aren't you in the locker room?" the man snapped angrily.

"This is my first day. I wasn't sure what to do," she answered without thinking because her mind was way too focused on the sight of the trio standing before her. The man in the middle was handsome but only because of the laugh lines that had not yet evaporated with the sight of her. His eyes were hazel and gleaming and soft with a hard armor that had just come to protect him. The tattoos over his forehead were very intricate designs of fast motion figures moving at rapid speed and she thought they might be animals and she thought they might be moving.

His voice broke through her thinking, "Then you should ha-"

"Wait!"

All of the eyes stopped to focus on the guy on the right with the sleeves cut off. His hard expression had turned suddenly boyish and happy again as his childish eyes widened with recognition. He had looked so familiar before but suddenly with all the light he looked like a stranger. His skin like sard shone vibrantly from the internal fire, his blondish hair was slicked back against his head, and his immaculately kept goatee was a thick brown. Had she seen him before?

"Dude! Kehinde's her Mentor. Dude!"

That was it! From Kehinde's class! It was Mac, the guy that had stood from the table to talk to the other people down the way and when she looked to the left she saw there was one of the guys he had gone to talk to. She hadn't seen him before but now he was clear. He was lean boy with brown taupish skin and thin brown hair that fell across his head loosely and sprinkled across his face like a beard. He had sweet blue eyes that stared at her with the same suspicion the Professor did. She hoped the whole class wouldn't be like this.

"Is this true?" the man questioned with a seriousness that fell around her as if a lie would send her to death, "Is Professor Kehinde your Mentor?"

Thisbe nodded with confusion, "Uh…yeah…"

There was a crazy burst of emotion behind his eyes but it was dimmed once the strange boy chimed in with his slightly shrill voice, "Wait, did you pick this class?"

"Uh, no," Thisbe responded, "My Mentor made my schedule for me."

That was it. Together they stepped back so they could bump against the Professor and push him happily while exclaiming things in what must have been Korean. They looked so sweet and so wonderful she couldn't break up their what-ever-it-was with her question. She only nodded and waited for them to notice her. Which they didn't until she let out a tiny cough.

"Are you alright?"

"Do you feel sick?"

"Do you need to see the High Priestess?"

"What? No!" she shook away their questioning. "I'm fine. It's just…hello, still confused."

"Oh, right," the Professor smiled, "I am Master Mal-Chin Rhee, but you can just call me Master Mal. Charlie here can get you a dobak while Mac gathers some literature for you to study up on."

He didn't even have to tell them to go. As soon as he said their name and gave them a specific duty they were gone and down to business. Thisbe watched them leave with the seriousness of a soldier and wanted to ask how they had become so disciplined but knew she would get her answer.

"I can't expect you to be in the shape necessary for you to begin class so for the next few days I'm going to have you warm up with us then spend the rest of the period running laps. If you'd like I can have Charlie help train you on your own time while I continue with the other third formers but I'd need to go over this with your Mentor to ensure I'm not pushing you too hard, is that all right?"

Thisbe wasn't even sure what she could say. She only shrugged with her brows still furrowed in confusion, "Um, okay. Yeah."

The class began to exit the lockers and the nice guy vanished once again. He took a step back and whistled for everyone's attention as he began to bark orders. She stepped off of the mat and found Charlie who was returning with a large black dobak wrapped up in fresh plastic. She expected him to sit and talk to her but instead he walked straight past her and joined Master Mal at the mat. Mac arrived with a few books and handed them to her and while she opened her mouth to speak he also avoided her. Her face was twisted in confusion as she watched them conduct the class like total and complete hard asses.

She whispered to herself, "What the fuck?"

A/N: Hey guys, I'm so thankful to have you reading but I was wondering if I could get some reviews? I planned on having Thisbe be the antithesis of Zoey and also planned on using her to point out a lot of issues I had with the series itself and that might not make everyone happy but I'd appreciate some input. Even if you don't agree and want to discuss your opinion, that would be cool too.