Disclaimer: I am not the all-famous, all-power Tamora Pierce. I do not own any of these characters and I do not own the wonderful world of Tortall.

I would really like it if you would review. Is it so hard to press that colored button down there? (I will not say which color because I do not want to get into an argument over it.)

Please read and review! I have no idea where this is going, but if you guys could give me some reviews, I would love you forever! I own nothing. Enjoy! By the way, Torah is a flirt and has kissed both Jakkin of Queenscove and Prince Jassikam. She doesn't mean anything by that, and they know it. I don't know who she really likes yet. Popular vote will win!

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Torah sighed to herself. It had been three months since she had arrived at the university. She, Mel, and Rikash had playing plenty of pranks on Thom and Numair. Torah was working on a new one that she planned to do to Thom soon.

There was a squeaking sound from behind her. Torah spun around to glare at Toma. Toma was a pink lightning bolt. It had acquired its color by 'eating' strawberries. Toma was named for Torah's Uncle Thom. It liked to take on the shape of a dragon.

Torah went back to her spell. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She hated when her hair was in her face. The strand of hair popped out again and Torah groaned and got up to dig in her stuff for a ribbon.

She heard laughter. She spun around to face her door. A boy of fourteen stood there. He was a few inches taller than Torah's five-five. He had blue-gray eyes and straight black hair. He wore the blue robes of a Novice mage. He pointed up at the lightning dragon. Torah swore loudly when she saw that Toma had stolen her ribbon. It wasn't much of a ribbon anymore.

Torah turned to face the boy. "How long have you been standing there, Rikash?" She demanded. She and Rikash had been best friends for a long time.

He shrugged. "Five minutes. I didn't want to interrupt you. You looked busy. What is that by the way?" He pointed at the spell books that Torah had open on her lap and table.

Torah smiled. "A little prank that Lord Master Thom won't like at all. You can come in you know. Just close the door." Rikash shrugged and obeyed. Torah turned back to the spell books.

They both looked up confused when there was a knock on Torah's door a few seconds later. The only others who would be bothered with knocking on Torah's door were Melaniah or Gaviena, and they were both away.

Torah stood and answered it. In a few seconds, she was knocked on her back by a boy and two girls. Torah sat up and held her head. She turned to get a better look at her attackers. In a moment she threw herself on the taller girl.

"Anikami! I thought that you knew better than that! You nearly killed me!" Torah said to her best friend.

The half-Yamani was a beauty. She looked exactly like her mother, except for her emerald green eyes. She had inherited those and her love for drama from her father. She was a fifteen year old squire to Sir Owen of Jesslaw. She grinned back at her friend.

"It wasn't me who knocked you over. I merely hugged you. It was my madly in love brother who knocked you over! Go say hi to Lani!"

The second girl was a tall brunette. Unlike Ani, her face was expressionless. Her big blue eyes were crinkled, the only sign of her laughing. Ilane of Masbolle was another one of Torah's good friends. She was a fourth year page.

"Lani, look at you! You're almost as beautiful as me!" Lani's eyes crinkled even more as Ani burst out laughing. Torah gave Lani a quick hug before turning to the third member of the group. Torah smiled flirtatiously and batted her long eyelashes. Jakkin of Queenscove smiled back.

"Well, Master Jakkin of Queenscove, have you forgot about me all this time? I was wondering if you were ever going to come for a visit." Torah said. Her voice was as sweet as honey. She loved flirting with Jakkin, even though they both did it out of fun.

Jakkin grinned and took a bow usually reserved for a king. Torah pulled her fan from her sash and patted Jakkin's shoulder with it. She winked.

"Are you not going to kiss me, fair lady?" Jakkin flirted back.

Torah gave a giggle. "I thought that was the man's job, sir page, but I would happily oblige." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Better?"

Jakkin raised an eyebrow, still managing to look handsome. "I was thinking of something more along the lines of this." He kissed her hard on the lips. Torah returned the kiss, ignoring the groans of Ani. They pulled apart after a long moment. Torah stuck her tongue out at Ani.

"You're just jealous that I have no trouble getting boys to love me. Everyone is in love with me! I'm beautiful!" Torah said. She was only kidding, and her friends knew that. It still didn't keep Ani from snorting loudly. Torah frowned at her. "I'll have you know that I will not tolerate that rudeness in here." Jakkin and Ani burst out laughing. Lani smiled a little bit.

Torah turned to where Rikash was. "This is my friend…" Torah looked up at Ani, confused. Rikash was gone.

Surprisingly, it was Lani who spoke. "He slipped out of the room while you and Jakkin were…occupied. He was even more uncomfortable than Ani and I."

Torah shrugged, unconcerned. "I don't know why you guys are so upset. Jakkin and I both know that it's a game. We're both big flirts. You guys should get used to it. I know that Jakkin has kissed like all the girls at Court his age. I've kissed a lot of boys too. I even kissed Prince Jassikam a few times."

"What!" Ani and Lani both yelled. Torah giggled.

"What is your problem? How could you not know that? We were both talking about it forever. Liano was furious. She's over it now, after seeing us so much."

Ani and Lani looked at each other, both speechless, before turning back to stare at Torah. Finally Toma broke the silence by dropping a strawberry on Torah's head. Torah turned to glare at her pink lightning friend.

"Toma! Stop it! You're supposed to be on my side! Stop it!" She yelled as another strawberry was thrown at her. The lightning dragon squeaked with joy as it sent another one flying at Torah. It hit Jakkin in the face when she ducked.

The three girls started to laugh. Jakkin scowled at them and threw his arms up in the air. He looked so much like his father when he did that. Torah started laughing even harder. Jakkin shook his head. Torah kissed him softly on the mouth again.

"You are so adorable when you're confused. Toma, I'm going to put you outside! Toma, no!" Toma sat on Torah's head. Torah felt herself become lightning again. "Toma!" She cried.

The lighting dragon made a funny noise that sounded a bit like laughter. Torah shook her head at it and turned back to her friends, all of which were staring at her in awe.

Torah wasn't surprised that Ani was the first to speak. "What is that thing? Why is it flinging strawberries at you? Did you turn into lightning?"

Lani's eyes were wide on her otherwise expressionless face. Jakkin's mouth was open in shock. Torah laughed and shook the lightning off of her. She kissed Jakkin on the lips. "That's the third time I've kissed you today. I don't think that you've been that good." She turned back to Ani. "Yes, I can turn into lightning if it touches me. That is my friend Toma. She's really a blot of lightning that turned pink when I fed it strawberries. She loves annoying people."

Ani started laughing. "You named her after your uncle, didn't you?"

Torah smiled back wryly. "How did you guess? Now, if you three would excuse me, I'll change into some real clothes and take you for a tour. Shoo!" The three of them walked out of Torah's rooms.

Torah looked at herself in the mirror. Her black hair reached her waist. It wasn't as wavy as it had been three months ago. Since it was nearly Midwinter, Torah's eyes were a deep violet. During the summer, they would change back into royal blue.

Torah slipped out of her robe and into a pair of tan breeches. She tucked a blue loose-fitting shirt into them. She completed her outfit with a pair of brown boots that nearly reached her knees. She went to meet her friends.

The four of them hadn't gone far, when there was a shriek and another body hit into Torah. She winced and embraced her cousin Mel. Mel was only one year younger than Torah and took after her father. She had copper hair than reached her shoulders in curls and bright blue eyes.

"Mel, I'm sure you remember my friends, Ani, Lani, and Jakkin. You guys, this is my little cousin Melaniah. Call her Mel though." Jakkin gave a deep bow, eyes twinkling with mirth as he kissed Mel's hand. She raised her eyebrows at Torah.

"Now, now, Jakkin. You already have the prettiest girl in the world madly in love with you. Stop flirting with Lady Toralina's little cousin, no matter how cute she is."

Jakkin turned to grin. "Only if you give me a kiss." Torah sighed and waggled her fingers at him, smiling playfully.

"Your stakes are high, lord page, but I will happily oblige." They kissed yet again. Torah loved kissing. It was so fun!

Torah and Mel introduced her friends to Gaviena, Numair, and Thom. Jakkin and Ani's grandfather, Duke Baird, was pleased to see his two oldest grandchildren. He shook his head when Torah asked him innocently if he would like to see Thom with pink hair.

"Is that the latest of your pranks? Never mind; don't answer that. I really don't want to know. If it is, you should be careful. He'll never forgive you if you get his hair dyed permanently."

After that, they went to look for Rikash. He had strangely disappeared. Near dinnertime, they decided to give up.

"I don't know where he could be." Torah said, frowning. She was a little upset with him for not showing up. Soon enough, her mind was on other things. Her uncle was lecturing her for not wearing her robe to dinner. Torah pretended to listen, while really muttering the spell to make his hair turn pink.

His hair turned pink. Only Torah and Lani managed to keep straight faces. Thom looked at Torah in frustration. "Are you even paying attention, Toralina?!"

Torah smiled sweetly. "Nope. Come on; you can't tell me that you're surprised! I never listen to you!"

Thom stalked off. Only then did Torah burst into laughter. Ani, Lani, and Jakkin had to leave soon though. Ani turned to Torah right before kicking her mount into a gallop.

"Promise to visit?" She asked pleadingly.

Torah shook her head. "I can't. Once Thom finds out what I did to his hair, he won't let me leave until Midwinter. I'll be in Carthak during Midwinter. I'm going to go and visit my Aunt Kally! It'll be so much fun! I'll miss you, though!"

Meanwhile, Rikash lay on his bed thinking. There was a knock on his door. He ignored it until he heard Mel's shrill voice ringing, "Rikash, I know that you're in there, and if you don't open the door, then I will break it down!"

Rikash knew that she would, so he opened it. Mel entered the room, red in the face from getting worked up and glaring. "Where have you been the whole day?!" She demanded. "I got back from the capital today and you weren't even there to greet me!"

Rikash sighed. "I don't know what happened."

Mel's face softened a little. "You know that you can tell me anything, right?"

Rikash smiled. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yes, I know. Well, earlier today, I was in Torah's rooms talking with her. Suddenly her door opened and she was knocked to the floor by her friends. She kissed the boy. I-I think that I'm jealous. I know that I've had feelings, the friend kind and the other kind, since the first day I've met her. I think I'm falling in love with her."

Mel smiled slightly. "Torah and her flirtations. Don't worry about her. She loves flirting and kissing. It's one of her favorite pastimes. She doesn't really like Jakkin, and he doesn't really like her. They are just both big flirts."

Rikash smiled brightly. He looked so relieved. Mel didn't have the heart to tell him that her cousin had broken countless men's hearts and would probably break his too. Instead, she kissed Rikash's cheek and went to her own room.

On the way back to the palace, Jakkin kept thinking about Torah. Usually, he just wanted a female companion, someone to flirt with. But Torah, Torah was different. She was smart and funny and beautiful. Jakkin was in love with her. He couldn't wait into he saw her again.

Torah, Rikash, and Jakkin all went to bed with smiles on their faces. Torah was unaware of how difficult her life was about to get. Jakkin didn't know that Torah's friend was in love with her. Rikash didn't know that Torah was going to break his heart.

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How was it? You should really review so I would know if you like it or not! I don't care if they're flames or nice reviews! I really like writing about Torah. She's a really funny character. Okay, I need to know what you guys would prefer. Would you like her to end up with Rikash, Jakkin, or Prince Jassikam? Put your answer in your review please! I only have one so far, thank you so much SOPROL for sending in a vote! You rock! I'd also like to thank one reader who was one of my first and has stuck through them and reviewed every chapter! Thank you so much C.McPherson! I love you! The next chapter will be up soon! It's the weekend; I have a lot of free time! By the way, Mel is NOT in love with Rikash. When she kissed him on the cheek, it was only because she felt bad about Torah going to break his heart and her not saying anything. Okay, bye…REVIEW IF YOU WANT ANOTHER CHAPTER!!!!

PS. These are the robe colors:

Novice – blue

Intermediate – green

Adept – red

Master – white

Powerful Sorcerer – black