"The first thing you need to know about demons: they are conniving sons of bitches who will go to every length to trick you into making a deal that will ultimately lead you to hell. You can never trust a demon." Dean stands in front of us, talking about our first topic: Demon Deals.

A girl named June raises her hand. "Mr. Winchester, what about Crowley?"

Dean narrows his eyes. "How do you know who Crowley is?"

"Um, er, well, my parents, um, made a deal with him. But he said that you two were friends."

Dean scoffs. "We're hardly friends. We've cooperated in the past. He is not a good person."

Nydia speaks up. "Technically, he's not a person."

"Oh, you and Sammy would get along." He responds. "Now, if you have a person running from a demon deal, you'll want to make a circle out of goofer dust or salt. There's really no way out of a demon deal, but if this person wants a few extra years, you'll want to get some holy oil, make a fire out of it, and roast some glasses in it. Then you want to wear those glasses while you kill the hellhound coming after the person. Does anyone know what you can kill a hellhound with?"

June raises her hand. "Prayer?"

"Uh, no. There are multiple ways, but the easiest is a lot of iron. If you can set a bomb with a buttload of iron in it, that'll kill the hellhounds tailing your guy. Then you'll want to give your guy a hex bag so the hellhounds can't find them for the rest of their life. They'll still go to hell when they die, but maybe they'll have a happy life before that. Of course, if your person's a douche, you might wanna just leave em for the hellhounds."

At that moment, Sam pokes his head in the classroom. "Dean!" he chastises.

"What? I'm just saying, if the person who made the deal deserves to go to hell, you should let them!"

Sam rolls his eyes, and I feel a pang in my chest. Sam reminds me of my sister, and Dean is a lot like me. We had conversations like this almost every day. Now we'll never have another one. I bite down on my lip to bring myself back to the present. It seems like any time I have a single thought of my family, that night comes back in full force. It's like the djinn are poisoning my memories, so whenever I think of my family, I think of blood draining and skulls cracking. If they actually did something to cause that, it's a nasty trick.

I dig my fingernails into my palms. There's no use thinking about them. They're never coming back, and all memories are bad memories now. It's better if I just start over, a blank slate. No family, no trauma. The beginning of a new life. One where I hunt monsters, apparently.

"Hey ladies!" Aatami calls us over to the table he's sitting at. We pick our way through the crowd of kids toward him. A lot more people arrived overnight, and now there's about twenty-five of us in all, all from the ages of twelve to nineteen.

"So, how's your day been?" He asks, upbeat as usual.

"Pretty good!" Nydia replies, smiling, at the same time I say,

"Horrible."

"Wow. You guys are like night and day." His eyes widen. "Hey! Night and day! Nydia and Delilah! You guys are literally night and day!"

"Sure." I roll my eyes. "Whatever. So, how was yours?"

"Pretty good. There was this really cute enby in Monster Hunting Basics, but I'm pretty sure they're aro, so that's kinda a bummer." Too late, he seems to realise what he just said. His eyes widen and he stutters. "I-I- I mean there was a cute girl! I-it was a girl!"

"Relax, dude." Nydia says. "I was in that class with you, and they were really cute."

I'm not in that class with them (it's the only one we're not all together in), but I'm pretty sure I know who they're talking about.

"Wait, do you mean Jordan? Oh yeah, they're super cute. And I totally swing that way, by the way."

"Me too." Nydia says.

Aatami smiles. "I guess you already know that I do, too."

With our shared sexualities binding us, we high-five and continue eating our lunches.

"Nydia, truth or dare?" I ask. Me, Nydia, and Aatami are all gathered on the floor of Aatami's dorm, since he doesn't have a roommate.

"Truth."

"Okay. I've noticed you don't have a razor in the shower. Do you not shave your legs, and if so, why not?"

"No, I don't shave my legs, because I don't really see the point. I mean, sure, it feels nice for a day or so, but it's mainly just another patriarchal standard women are expected to live up to, and I just don't think it's necessary."

I break into a smile. "Nice. You know, Nydia, you're kinda awesome."

She blushes. "Thanks. Okay, now Aatami, truth or dare?"