Chapter 12: (August 10)

"Alright, I'll admit...it was clearly a bad idea."

This came from Nomi as she rubbed her temples, trying to avoid the gazes of the other students around her. She was outside of the Schoolhouse, standing near the double doors.

Amanita took off her sunglasses to look at her better, wincing as she did so. "Hey, you're the one that wanted to order the extra round of shots, and then threw up in front of everyone at the bar! I told you, I specifically said, 'Nomi, are you sure? I mean, hard Faroese alcohol, that could end badly.' But no, no one ever listens to Ama-fricken-nita!" She huffed loudly and stomped away inside.

Riley turned to Nomi and smiled. "Well, it went a lot better than I thought for a place called 'The Enhjørning Pub.'"

Nomi scoffed and walked inside, Riley slowly following her up the stone stairs. "Yeah, remind me never to return. I swear that bartender was all over me… it was so-"

"—Creepy," Riley finished quickly. They laughed suddenly, turning to one another.

"Yeah, and not my area either." Nomi continued. "Hey, you know what? We all have the same lunch schedule. We could eat together, or go for a picnic sometime."

Riley sighed. "You know what Irsa told Will. 'Too dangerous.' And it has only been a few days…"

"How weird is this? I feel like I've known all of you my entire life."

"I know what you mean…" Riley nodded her goodbye, and Nomi walked down the hall. Waiting until her friend was out of sight, Riley took out a small tarot card from her bag, flipping it over and over again as she made for her own class.

/

Later that day, Kala met Rajan at the dining hall. It was especially empty; many of the students having chosen to work at the library instead of eat.

"How did you do on your test?" he asked as the dinner ladies came in and out of the kitchen, carrying plates towering with food to the large tables. He slid onto the bench opposite her, waiting for her to respond.

Kala looked up from her notes in surprise. "Oh, hello Rajan. I did well, thank you. An A. But I'm going to have to do the same for the exams, and then the finals, especially with those compounds. I found this really great book-"

"Kala, please slow down. You work too much, and while it is great, I wouldn't want to see you exert this much energy. You'll be exhausted by the time the semester ends. Here, have some fried mangos." He quickly grabbed some from a passing dish and placed them in her plate.

"Fried mangos?" She gave him a perplexed look and put her study materials in her bag, leaving the table.

Rajan followed her out the dining hall. "Have I done something wrong?" he asked. They were in the entryway now, and she looked up at his confused face. It reminded her so much of Wolfgang's expression yesterday at the beach. He'd been wrong then; she did like Rajan. She liked how kind and caring he was.

"No," she said quietly, "No, you haven't done something wrong. I've just been so busy lately, and I suppose the change...of school is overwhelming."

Reassured, he grinned. "Well, then, would you like to go on a walk with me?"

"Alright. Yes, I'd like to." Kala smiled slightly as they left.

The sky was darkening as the pair stepped out onto the lawn of the Schoolhouse.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Kala asked as they slowly strolled across the grass, the tiny green shoots tickling her bare legs.

"No… nothing in particular." He seemed to be hesitating, wondering if he should tell her something. After a few seconds of consideration, he simply shook his head, and politely motioned for her to sit on a stone bench. "Kala, I really like you. I know it's only been a few days since we met, but I already feel very close to you. And you have to know that," he looked down at the ground, smiling, "I asked Mr. Aiza if I could be the one to help you study when you came back from the infirmary."

"Rajan!" she laughed and lightly hit him on the shoulder. "Well, I'm glad you did. How else would I have learned about the specifics of subatomic particles?"

"Very true," he replied. They spent the rest of the hour talking and laughing.

/

Will visited Riley through the connection later that night. She was sitting cross-legged on the wooden floorboards, and her dorm mates were all soundly asleep. Slowly moving towards her, he sat on the floor as well.

"Did you go drinking yesterday?" he asked. He noticed that she didn't jump in surprise, or shift to look at him. She simply stared at the ground. He almost thought she wasn't going to respond, but after a minute of silence she finally did.

"Yes, Will. I did. You know the things I do." She was implying her drug use, which had been hard to keep a secret from him. "Why?"

Will chuckled slightly under his breath, but he was still tense. "No reason. I just felt a slight hangover early this morning. Where'd you go?"

"The Enhjørning."

"I'm not familiar with Danish."

"It means The Unicorn Pub."

They both laughed, and Riley finally looked up at him. Will stared at her face in surprise. There were streaks on her cheeks where tears had fallen, and her eyes were red.

"Riley, were you crying?" he asked, his concern growing as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I surround myself with people all the time, Will, all the time. And yet I feel so alone…"

"Where is this coming from? Did someone say something to you? Tell me who it was and I'll take care of it."

Riley shook her head, her white hair softly tickling his neck. "No, no one told me anything. It was this." She moved away from him and to her pillow, sliding her hand inside the case. Will stood to see what she was doing. As he did so, she pulled out a rectangular card.

"I don't understand. What are you trying to show me?"

Riley wiped her tears away quickly, forcing herself to concentrate on the conversation. "It was yesterday. I found this in my purse after I came back and was signing in at the office. It just fell out and I picked it up." She handed it to Will shakily.

"It's a tarot card," she said in response to his confused expression. "It helps you see your past, present, and future self."

"Huh… well, okay. What's the problem then?"

"Will… I never visited anyone for a reading."

Will's curiosity piqued as Riley slowly turned the card face forward. As she flipped it over, she read the words aloud that she had already memorized: "The Hermit."

A/N: I was sick for the past two days, so here's a slightly shorter chapter than usual. I'm on vacation now (thank goodness) and can write more. Thank you to the guest reviews that, sadly, I couldn't respond to via private messaging. Here is Chapter 12. I feel like I say this every time that I update, but still no season 2 renewal. It's okay, it's fine, hopefully the news will come around next week's one month anniversary update of this fanfic? I hope all of you have an awesome day!

~C.o.D.