Vald never got back to sleep after the incident he refused to name. Instead he cleaned the house and did small chores. Every time he let himself relax he thought of Halvir and was reminded of the dream. He switched to homework once he had nothing to do and progressed very far in it.

Eventually he couldn't stop himself from passing out again, but thankfully the sleep was dreamless. He didn't think he could handle another dream about his professor.

He was woken by the doorbell when Oliver came to pick him up for school. He opened the door and was surprised to see that it was Liz instead of Oliver there waiting for him. He blinked and was about to say something when Oliver ran up behind her, already mid-lecture about impatience.

"What's up, Liz?" Vald asked politely.

"You didn't text me back!" she whined.

That made him remember that he had gotten a text from her before passing out. He had completely forgotten about it because of the dream. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" He went back in his house, letting them in and apologizing that he wasn't ready yet.

"You sleep so much in the summer," Oliver lectured.

"He's getting his beauty sleep," Liz defended. "No one needs more than a prin—"

She stopped herself as Vald found where he put his phone. "Not you too, Liz!" he complained. "You guys need to drop that nickname."

Liz giggled nervously. "But it fits you so well."

Her text from earlier read: "Thanks for replying to me! Can we talk tomorrow? I'll go with Olly to school tomorrow so we can talk in private. I can even go to class with you. What do you say?"

"You want to come to class with me?" he asked her.

She nodded at the same time Oliver sighed. "Can we just go? I don't even know how you convinced Mom to let you come."

Vald returned to his room to get dressed and heard them bickering in the other room. Right as he finished he heard a scream. He ran out to see that Liz had been going through his phone.

"What was that for?!" Oliver yelled at her.

"You have Halvir's phone number?!" she gasped at Vald. "He's your professor!"

He gave her a confused look. "Yeah, so? What's wrong? He gave it to me so I could ask him questions about class. He gives it to his best students since he wants to avoid spammers and trolls."

She handed his phone back to him and said, "Well, I guess I didn't know you two were dating already."

Vald blushed and Oliver stared at him. The twins looked so similar it was like he was seeing double, both with a face begging him to tell them it wasn't true. "We're not dating!" he said with his hands raised as if that would prove his innocence. "Promise."

Liz perked up at that and led the way back to her mother's car. She took shotgun while the boys were stuck in the back as usual. They were too focused on watching her be hyper to talk on the drive. She babbled on and on about what friends were doing during summer vacation and how her homework load was coming. She didn't seem to care that no one else was talking, however, and seemed to be enjoying herself.

The twins' mom dropped them off and gave a time when she'd be around to pick them up. She insisted that Liz not be late if she ever wanted to tag along again before leaving. Vald apologized for possibly making her late for work, but she said it wasn't a problem and hurried out of the parking lot.

"What class do you have today, Vald?" Liz asked cheerily.

"Chivalry with Professor Mars. You, Oliver?"

"Just Calculus. Liz will have fun in there." He snickered at his sister who pouted.

"But I wanted to go with Vald!" she whined.

"You'll just be bored," Vald told her. He didn't mind her company, but she seemed especially cheery today and he didn't want to be responsible for entertaining her.

"Fine!" she huffed. "But afterwards we can get lunch together, right?"

Oliver agreed before dragging her behind him on his way to class. She called back to Vald but he just waved, trying to think of a new way to stay awake in class.