Amber POV

I followed Cali down the hallway, presumably toward team DARK's dorm. She shuffled along just in front of me, humming a soft tune as she walked. Other than that, she moved so silently down the hallway she could have been a ghost.

"Hey, uh, Cali?" She looked over at me and I cleared my throat a bit nervously. "Why did you tell me that thing about you crying earlier?" She shrugged.

"To make you more comfortable." I nodded to myself.

"Okay, but isn't that kind of...private?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Not anymore." I flushed a bit.

"It just seemed a bit personal is all." She shrugged.

"Isn't that the point?" I sighed and tried a different tack.

"I mean, why bother comforting me?" She stopped and turned toward me, looking a bit confused.

"Why not? We're friends right?" My heart stuttered and I felt like jumping up and down for joy. I coughed and traced patterns on the floor with my shoe.

"A-are we?" She looked even more confused now.

"Do you not want to be?" I shook my head quickly.

"No! I mean," I looked away. "That's not what I'm saying. It's just why do you want to be friends with me?" Shut up, Amber! Just shut up! Screaming at myself didn't help.

Cali stared at me for a while, then smiled a bit.

"I guess I just like you." I blushed and nodded.

"Oh. I-I was just wondering. I don't know much about this kind of thing. I kinda lived in a tree for a while before coming here." Gah, now I'm saying overly personal things!

"I wish I could have." Cali murmured. Or at least I think she did.

"Sorry?" She smiled at me again, but this one seemed tinged with sadness.

"Come on, let's visit Dante."

Cali stopped at a door, pulled of her scroll, and unlocked the door. She stepped aside and bowed, making a hilariously grandiose gesture for me to enter.

"Madam."

I found myself dipping in an equally ridiculous curtsy and trying hard not to laugh.

"Why thank you, kind sir." She grinned at me, and we went inside. I looked around, but no one was around. "Uh, Cali? There's no one here." As soon as I said it, I felt like smacking myself. Way to state the obvious, Amber.

She stepped past me and walked over to one of the beds, getting down on her knees and bending over, reaching under the bed and causing her skirt to hike halfway up her thighs.

"This is my room." I barely registered the words as inch after creamy inch of thigh was exposed, her skirt climbing higher as her efforts to get whatever she was searching for increased.

I tore my gaze away and turned to examine the rest of the room. Four beds arranged in a loose diamond, with nightstand in the middle holding a single lamp with no cover.

"Got it!" Came Cali's muffled voice from under the bed, I looked and blood began to leak from my nose. I could see her panties. What is wrong with me? Oh geez, this can't be happening again. Not after last time.

I quickly directed my gaze toward the ceiling.

Then she was in front of me, and I was looking up into her eyes.

"Amber?" She called my name, but i wasn't listening. I was lot in her eyes. They looked pink at the moment, but even as I watched the pink morphed into purple, slowly and subtly.

Her cheeks were red.

"Wh-what? Something on my face?" I blinked hard and shook my head.

"Oh! No, I was just admiring your eyes." She blushed harder and we fell silent, our eyes flickering around the room, to each other, then back around the room. Cali coughed uncomfortably.

"W-we should go check on Dante." I nodded in mute agreement, eager to leave this awkward moment behind.

We stopped at another door and Cali pulled out her scroll again, tapping a few things, then pushing the door open.

We didn't bow or curtsy this time.

I entered the room and immediately noticed two things. One, the cloying smell of liberally applied air freshener. Two, Cali's tense posture. I followed her gaze to a bed against the wall directly to our right and grimaced.

Dante looked awful. Her was skin deathly pale and she had deep, dark circles around her eyes, which were staring directly up at the ceiling without blinking.

She looked...dead. I looked at Cali, but she shook her head.

"She sleeps with her eyes open sometimes." I nodded, but knowing that didn't make it any less creepy.

Especially when she turned her head and looked right at me. I flinched and made an embarrassing whimpering sound.

"Is she looking at me?" I squeaked. Dante smirked weakly.

"Yes." I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Oh. Are you okay?" She gave me a sardonic smile.

"Oh yes, I'm great. I've gotten little to no sleep in the past week, and I just threw up the entirety of my stomach's contents not too long ago, but I'm just fantastic!" I winced. So that's what the air freshener thing is about.

"Sounds rough." She groaned.

"You have no idea." Cali and I moved closer to the bed and Cali extended a small plastic rectangle to her and Dante took it eagerly.

"Any new music?" Cali smiled.

"Some Casey Williams." Dante smiled back.

"You're the best." Cali shrugged, making no attempt to be modest.

"I know." Dante opened her mouth to say more, but someone knocked on the door. Actually, pounded on the is a more accurate description.

"Don't open it." She said immediately. "I know that knock."

"Hey!" A voice yelled. "Open up!" Dante growled.

"Fuck off, Anna!" I could hear Anna growling through the door. They sound like dogs fighting over something. I thought.

"I need to talk to Cali!" Dante sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Let her in, or else she'll stay out there, bitching at me for all eternity." I opened the door and Anna's jaw dropped open.

"Amber?" I waved.

"Hi." She furrowed her brow.

"Where's Cali?" I gestured back over my shoulder vaguely.

"In the room." Her gaze flicked from my face to over my shoulder, her expression unreadable. Then she smiled.

"Can I come in?" I moved out of the way and she stepped inside.

"Damn priest!" Dante shook her head in disgust. "He told me the holy barrier keeps out all demons." Anna flipped her off and Dante made a cross with her fingers in response.

"Cali," She looked up from where she was fiddling with the music player. "Have you seen my," Anna glanced nervously at me. "Uh, you know." Cali pondered this.

"No, actually, I don't know." Anna flushed and went over to whisper in her ear. Cali's cheeks flushed as well and she shook her head vigorously. "No, I haven't." Then muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Thank the gods".

Dante hummed. "Looking for your BCPs?" Anna whirled on her.

"What the hell are you trying to say? Don't make me whup your sickly ass all over this room." Dante looked unimpressed.

"Even if you were able to do just that, I doubt she'd let you." Anna growled.

"What the hell are you babbling about? Who wouldn't let me?" Cali stiffened and a sticky, slimy chill spread up my spine. I didn't have to turn to know who was behind me.

"That would be me." Spectra said, quietly. Dante scoffed.

"She thinks she's my guardian angel or some shit. Even though this is her fault." Spectra said nothing. Anna narrowed her eyes at her.

"So you're Spectra, huh?" Spectra nodded once. "You did this to Dante." It wasn't a question.

"I suppose." Spectra replied coolly. Dante sat up.

"Don't give me that 'I suppose' bullshit! If you weren't so damn busy being creepy, we wouldn't be here right now." Spectra flinched.

"I said I was sorry!" She whined. "Stop yelling at me." Dante folded her arms across her chest.

"Leave me alone, then." They faced off for a moment, then Spectra sighed.

"Fine. But if you need me-"

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I won't need you." When she was gone, Anna turned to Dante.

"That was Spectra?" Dante nodded. "Wow. She's not at all the badass you guys made her sound like." Dante's face darkened.

"You weren't there when I got shot. You don't know what she can do." Anna's eyes about bugged out of her head.

"You got shot?!" Dante sighed as if to say: "Here we go again". "See? This is why I tell you not to hang out with those...those delinquent friends of yours!"

"Okay, one: shut the bloody hell up." Dante snarled. "And two: I was fucking saving a lady from being mugged you judgmental piece of shit." Anna flinched away from her.

"Oh." Was all she said. Dante shook her head in disgust.

"Just leave." She said, pointing to the door.

"I'm sorry." Anna muttered.

"Are you?" Dante stared her down. "Are you really?" Anna nodded, and Dante's face softened a bit, but she still didn't look ready to forgive her. "Whatever. But you still have to leave. You guys need to get to class." Cali handed her the player and hugged her.

"Get better." Dante smiled and hugged her back before letting go and ruffling her hair.

"You bet, Cal." Cali straightened up and finger combed her hair until she was satisfied, a small scowl in her face. Dante laughed.

"You look fine, Cali." Cali nodded and turned to go, taking my wrist gently and pulling me out after her.

"C'mon, Amber."

"Cali?" I looked up at her and she smiled gently.

"Let's get you to class."

Dante POV

I'd only been sitting for a few minutes after Cali and the others had gone when I got tired of the charade.

"We both know you never left, so unless you insist on lurking creepily in the shadows all afternoon you should just come of now."

Nothing happened for a while, but eventually Spectra reappeared, coalescing from a puddle of shadow under Akari's bed.

"You knew." I snorted.

"Don't sound so surprised. Ever since you revived me, I've been able to tell when you're near." She rocked back on her heels like I'd gut punched her.

"So it does work." She breathed, pulling her mask off and tossing it aside. I felt my breath falter in my throat and I put out my hand, palm forward. There was only one reason she'd want to take off her mask.

"Stop right there." She did, a smile curling her lips.

"What's the matter? Don't want to be tempted?"

I scoffed. "As if." She sauntered closer, licking her lips.

"Don't be scared, Dante." I laughed nervously as she sat on the bed next to me.

"How can I not when everytime we're in the same room, you force yourself on me?" She paused, a thoughtful look blossoming in her face.

"I never thought about it that way." I edged toward the opposite end of the bed.

"I bet." Then the look was gone, replaced by a coy smile and bedroom eyes. Damn.

"Aw, come on, just one kiss." She purred, crawling toward me. I shook my head.

"No." She frowned.

"You didn't complain last time." She protested.

"I tried!" I shot back. "But no one could hear me because you were shoving your tongue in my mouth!" She stopped and sat back on her heels.

"Oh." She held out her hand and her mask flew into it. "I see. Maybe we should start over." She hopped off my bed and stepped back, placing her mask back over her face. "Next time we meet, Dante Stryker, we'll start all over again. With introductions and everything, okay?"

I said nothing. She shrugged.

"You don't have to say anything now, we can sort that out when you're mine, once and for all." I flushed and she laughed, backing into the shadows with a finger wave.

"TTFN, doll." I shuddered when she was gone.

"Gods, my life sucks."

Alright, think I'm back in the swing of things for Team BANE, just need to get back in the groove for BNSDLS.

TWAD# 13: Now that it's summer, I'll probably do what I dot every summer: Read, write, hang with DJ an Feelex, an listen to California Gurls over and over.