Okay, here is the next chapter. It's a long one and hopefully an enjoyable one!

Chapter 4

Sam soon found that living in close proximity to Artemis didn't make it any easier for her to talk to him; in fact it was quite the opposite. Most of the times he just ignored her presence, and whenever she tried to start a conversation, he would answer with one or two word replies if he even bothered to reply at all. After a week of this type of relationship, Sam was beginning to wonder if fulfilling her goal would even be possible.

"How can I ask him about faeries if I can't even talk to him" she grumbled, back from class.

"Ask who about what?" Jin said, catching up to her. Sam looked up at him and smiled. Though she had only been here for a week, Jin and her had already become rather close friends.

"Oh, nothing" she said, putting on a cheerful front, "I was just thinking about our lessons today"

"Okay then," Jin said happily, "are you going back to the dorms?"

"Yeah, I was just going to put my things down before going to track practice" Sam answered, nodding to her book bag.

"Me too, come on—let's hurry up, you know that we'll get chewed out for sure if we're late to practice again" Jin said as the two hurried back to the dorm. Jin's room was just down the hallway from Sam's.

"I'll just put my things down and meet you out here, okay?" he asked. Sam nodded and proceeded to her room. Inserting the key into the door, she opened it, expecting it to be empty and silent as always. Except this time it wasn't. Standing near her desk was the hugest, most intimidating man she had ever seen in her life. Sam stood by the door, paralyzed in fear. The man slowly turned around and looked at her. His gaze was cold and harsh and his face seemed to carry a rather frightening expression. He started walking over towards Sam. Just as he was about two feet away from her, she regained control of her senses. Screaming loudly, she shut the door, locked it, and ran into the hallway.

"HELP! HELP!" she cried, backing up against the furthest wall. Jin rushed out of his room, half changed, with a baseball bat in hand, and over towards her.

"What's the matter? Did you see a rat? They are huge here—I usually kill them with this bat" he asked. Sam lunged herself at him, shaking.

"There is a huge burglar rapist in my room!!" she cried, hugging onto his neck tightly.

"A burglar rapist?!?" Jin cried, shocked, "you usually don't hear about any of those in an all boy's school. He probably thought you looked like a girl"

Sam was too frightened to even argue. She just shook her head and pointed to her door with a trembling finger.

"Are you sure he's still in there?" Jin asked. Sam nodded. Jin walked slowly to the door, Sam still hanging off of his neck. He raised his bat, taking baby steps towards the room.

"Um, Sam, when you said that the burglar rapist was huge, how huge did you mean?" he asked, voice slightly shaking.

"He was like a mountain!" Sam cried, holding on to Jin even tighter. Jin gulped nervously, raising the bat even higher.

They were scant inches from the door. Suddenly Artemis walked into the hallway and to the room. He just stopped and looked at Jin, standing in front of the door with a raised baseball bat and Sam, shaking and hanging off of Jin. He just shook his head and proceeded to walk to the door and inserted his key into the hole. Before he had a chance to open the door, Sam peeled herself off of Jin and instead threw herself at Artemis, clinging onto his back.

"What the…what are you doing?" Artemis asked, nearly falling over from the force at which Sam had threw herself at him.

"Don't go in the room!" Sam cried, clinging on to his back even tighter, "There is a massive rapist in there"

"A what? Don't be ridiculous" Artemis said, trying to throw Sam off.

"No! I saw him with my own eyes! He as huge and mean, and he tried to come over to me but I locked him inside!" Sam said, pulling Artemis back, "I can't let you go in there!"

Just then the door opened. Jin rushed forward, bat in hand. Sam continued to try to pull Artemis the furthest away from the door as she possibly could. The huge, towering figure stood in the doorway before walking out into the hall.

"Butler?" Jin said in shock, bat still raised in the air. Butler looked over at the boy, took the bat from his hands, and snapped it in half.

"That is my bodyguard, you lunatic, not a rapist," Artemis snarled, throwing Sam off his back. Sam cowered behind him.

"Your…your bodyguard?" she whispered.

"Why were you so afraid anyways?" Artemis asked, distastefully brushing out the wrinkles in his sweater, "you have to be the most cowardly boy I have ever met"

"I'm not cowardly!" Sam cried out, rushing over to Butler, "see look, I'm standing right next to him!" She looked over at Butler triumphantly; only to find herself looking into a pair of the two darkest eyes she had ever seen. She slowly moved a little away from him.

"Butler, what are you doing here?" Artemis asked, smiling up at the man. Sam gasped. This was the first time that she had ever seen Artemis smile before. She remembered Jin telling her that Butler was Artemis's only friend before.

"I heard that you had gotten a new roommate. I came to see who he was," Butler answered, looking down at Sam, who smiled nervously at him.

"I assume that he is this boy-girl who locked me in your room?" he continued. Sam glared at the ground, seething.

"Who are you calling a boy-girl" she grumbled. Butler leaned down a bit.

"You must admit that you do have rather feminine features. I am sure you could pass off as a girl if you grew your hair out long enough" he said. Sam immediately moved away from him, frightened by his intense gaze. Thank god she had remembered to put on her chest protector today. She wasn't very well endowed naturally, and with the protector on, her body actually did look a little masculine.

"It takes more than facial features to be a girl' she mumbled.

"Sam, don't mind them," Jin said, coming up to her, "the two of them are always like that. But Butler isn't a bad guy, and he certainly isn't a rapist"

"How was I supposed to know. Showing up out of nowhere! I was scared out of my mind!" Sam said huffily.

"Don't worry about it, " Jin said, looking at his watch, "come on, we better get going. We are already late to practice!"

"Oh, okay. One minute" Sam said, running back into the room, carefully dodging Butler, who was looking at her with a look of amazement. She grabbed her bad and rushed out of the room.

"Alright, let's go now" she said, quickly leaving Artemis and Butler, "Jin, why are you only half dressed?"

"Oh, haha, I guess I just rushed out when I heard you scream. Plus, my track shirt is in my locker anyways. Come on, let's go" he said, and the pair of them walked away quickly.

Butler just stared at the pair as they walked away, chuckling to himself.

"What is so amusing?" Artemis asked, walking into the room, kicking away the pieces of Jin's ruined baseball bat.

"Your new roommate is quite the little spitfire, isn't he?" Butler asked, following the boy into the room.

"A nut, you mean" Artemis snarled, throwing his book bag onto his bed. Butler looked at the boy in surprise. He had never seen Artemis look that angry before.

"I thought the whole thing was amusing" Butler said lightly, "I have never been called a rapist before"

"Let's get off the topic of my daft roommate," Artemis said, "is Sam the only reason why you came here?"

"Well, no" Butler said, "Foaly sent me a message today"

"Foaly?" Artemis cried excitedly, suddenly coming nearer to Butler. "What kind of message? What did it say? Does he want us to do something? Does the LEP need something? Did Holly or Root send something as well?"

"I say one statement to you and you turn from Artemis Fowl into a 12 year old faerie fan girl" Butler stated, an amused look on his face.

"Don't be ridiculous, Butler, " Artemis said, "I am just curious to know all the details behind this message and the reason it was sent".

"There weren't many details," Butler said, "and I am not quite sure the purpose or reasoning behind it either"

"Is there anything you do know, then?" Artemis asked dryly.

"Well the message that was sent said that you needed to meet Holly in exactly one month's time. Something very important, it seems" Butler said. Artemis immediately started pacing.

"One month's time? If it is so important then why do I have to wait so long?" he whispered to himself.

"Oh, and there is something else as well" Butler said. Artemis stopped pacing and looked up at him, a single eyebrow raised.

"The message said that you had to bring somebody else with you. Somebody human"

"Yes, you are going to be coming, of course" Artemis said, brushing the comment away.

"No, it is not that simple," Butler said, fishing a folded paper from his pocket, "I printed out a copy of the memo sent to me."

Artemis immediately took the paper from Butler's hands and started to read it.

"Artemis must bring with him another human, someone his own age. Since this matter is of the utmost secrecy, it must also be someone that he trusts wholeheartedly…WHAT?"

"I told you it wasn't that simple" Butler said, looking at the anger build up inside of Artemis.

"What does he mean by that? Someone my age who I can trust? Does Foaly know how kids my age are? Does he think that all of them act like me, can think like me?" Artemis cried out in frustration, racking his brains for anyone that he could take. "Juliet! I could take Juliet with me"

"I already talked to Juliet about this" Butler said, "She is in her final stages of her training at Madam Ko's. She won't be available for another year at least".

"Then who else is there left for me to take?" Artemis asked, "who else can I trust enough to share this with?"

"What about one of your classmates?" Butler suggested. Artemis just turned to him, aghast.

"Haven't you seen enough of my classmates to know that they are not the type of people I can take with me? Do you think there is one person here who I trust enough? One person here I actually like?" he asked.

"What about this new roommate of yours? He has the correct temperament to deal with all those insane faeries" Butler said. Artemis scoffed.

"Just because he is amusing doesn't mean that I find him trustworthy enough" he answered.

"Well you admitted he was amusing, that is more than you can say about anyone else here" Butler said, shrugging his massive shoulders, "you have a month to find somebody, anybody, that you trust enough to take to meet Holly"

"Fine, let's talk about another subject now" Artemis answered, glowering at the floor. This whole talk with Butler had put him in an awful mood.

Sam walked slowly to practice, chatting happily with Jin about the next meet. The encounter with Butler had made her extremely nervous, and now she was trying to release her nervous energy by being more cheerful than usual.

"Let me see what kind of track shoes you have brought. Do you know certain ones can actually make you run faster?" Jin said as they neared the practice area.

"AH!" Sam cried, "I forgot my track shoes in my room! Tell coach I am going to be a little late. Let me go grab them"

"Oh, okay then" Jin said as Sam ran back to the room. The distance from the track to the dorms was not too far, but after the experience with Butler, Sam was still a bit in shock and her energy was already quite drained. She got back to the dorms, out of breath, and walked over to her room. The door was slightly ajar, and she could hear Butler and Artemis talking inside. She was just about to open the door fully when she caught a snippet of the conversation going on inside the room.

"What about this new roommate of yours? He has the correct temperament to deal with all those insane faeries" she heard Butler say. Faeries, Sam thought, almost beaming with joy. She had been wondering about different ways to bring up the topic of faeries with Artemis, and it seemed as though the perfect opening had just occurred.

"Just because he is amusing doesn't mean that I find him trustworthy enough" Artemis then said. Sam frowned a little. Sure, she was a fraud in this school, but she had always considered herself to be a pretty trustworthy girl when it came to things that really mattered.

"Well you admitted he was amusing, that is more than you can say about anyone else here. You have a month to find somebody, anybody, that you trust enough to take to meet Holly" Butler then said, before Artemis changed the subject. Sam quickly walked away from the door, down the hallway, and out of the dorm.

"A month before he has to meet Holly?" she wondered out loud, "what does that mean?"

But though she didn't know who Holly was and why Artemis had to bring somebody to meet her; she did get the main jist of the conversation. Artemis had a month to find somebody he trusted, and he would take that person to go see the faeries.

"I have to prove to Artemis that I am trustworthy!" Sam said, resolutely…"but how? How can a girl masquerading as a boy be considered trustworthy? I am lying every second of the day?"

Sam kept walking around the campus, thinking of various ways to get Artemis to trust her. She knew that it would be difficult, but that is what she came here to do, after all. She knew that the steps it would take to reach her goal would be difficult—and if she didn't do this then her whole reason for coming to Ireland and dressing up as a boy everyday would be for naught.

"Sam! Sam! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

Sam turned around and saw Jin running towards her.

"You skipped out on practice today. I thought you said you were going to get your track shoes?" Jin said once he caught up to her, "coach was pretty upset that you didn't show, but I said that you must not be feeling well"

"Yes!" Sam said quickly, "I am not feeling well. I went back to my dorm and my stomach just started hurting" Oh no, she thought, I was just thinking about ways to be trustworthy and I am already lying again!

"Your stomach? Really? That could be serious. Come on, I'll take you to the clinic!" Jin said.

"Oh, that's fine. I don't really need to go" Sam said quickly.

"Then you aren't sick?" Jin asked, raising his eyebrows at her. Sam immediately clutched her stomach and grimaced.

"It is a little painful" she said, "I guess a quick trip to the clinic won't hurt"

"Of course it won't, come on, quickly! This could be serious!" Jin said, starting to run, grabbing Sam's wrist to ensure that she followed.

But as soon as Jin grabbed Sam's wrist he felt as though a shock of electricity went through his whole body. He immediately let go and turned to stare at the small boy next to him. Sam looked up at him questioningly, and suddenly it seemed as though a sort of dazzling light surrounded the boy. Jin felt lightheaded just looking at Sam.

"Jin, are you okay?" Sam asked.

"I…I don't know" Jin answered, raising his hand to his head, "all of the sudden I feel lightheaded and my heart is beating fast I feel like it is going to pop out of my chest!"

"What? Are you getting sick too?" Sam asked

"Probably" Jin answered, "come, let's hurry to the clinic!" Jin clapped Sam on the shoulder and felt the same electric feeling coursing through him once more.

"Yes, come on" Sam said, running in front of him. Jin just started at Sam for a moment before shaking his head and following.

Dr. Murray was working on the last of his papers when the two teens burst into his office.

"Oh joy" he muttered to himself, shuffling his papers around before looking up at Jin and Sam.

"yes?" he said. He didn't see any cuts or visible rashes. It might not be too bad after all.

"Sam has a stomach ache!" Jin said, pointing. He was standing as far away from Sam as possible, in hopes of not getting shocked again.

"You came to the school clinic to see a doctor because you have a stomach ache?" Dr. Murray asked, looking up in surprise. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Sam. Something wasn't right about this boy.

"I am also…very…tired" Sam muttered, eyes closing. All the experiences today had been too much from her—from meeting Butler to overhearing the conversation to stressing out about ways to make herself more trustworthy, even running to the health clinic. All of them had taken it's tool on the girl, and she felt the edges of her eyes going dark.

"She's going to faint!" Dr. Murray said, immediately getting up and catching Sam as she fell. He then took her and carried her over to one of the beds.

"He, right?" Jin asked.

"What?" Dr. Murray said, tucking Sam into the covers.

"You said 'she is going to faint'. I was just correcting you. Sam is a he" Jin explained.

"Oh yes" Dr. Murray said, shaking his head. "Are you here for a reason as well? Because if not then you can kindly leave my office."

"No, no…I think I am getting sick!" Jin said.

"Symptoms?" Dr. Murray asked, his tone bored.

"I am feeling lightheaded, slightly feverish. My heart is beating extra fast and my stomach is fluttering" Jin said. Dr. Murray just looked at him, flabbergasted.

"Do these symptoms usually show up when you are near a certain person?" Dr. Murray asked.

"I suppose so" Jin answered.

"When you touch that person does it feel like an electrical current is running through your body?" the doctor continued.

"Yes! Yes, exactly like that!" Jin answered excitedly. Dr. Murray just wacked the boy on the shoulder.

"You are not sick, you daft child. You are in love" he said.

"In….in…in love?" Jin stammered.

"Al those feelings you just described are common to a person in love. You should probably go confess to the girl you like if you want the symptoms to stop" Mr. Murray said.

"Oh…okay…thank you" Jin said quickly before rushing out of the clinic. Once outside, Jin ran as far away from the building as he could get.

"….In love?" he cried, "how can I be in love? It's impossible!" He thought back to when he had first grabbed Sam's wrist—how a beautiful light seemed to shine around him. He found himself inadvertently smiling at the memory.

"NO!" he cried, yelling at himself "Sam is my best friend. I am not in love with him!"

With that he started walking resolutely back to the dorm, but his mind wandered back to earlier in the day, when Sam had hung onto him so tightly when he thought Butler was a rapist. He was so light, so frail…so…

"NO!!" Jin cried out once more, rubbing his head with his hands. "I'm not gay. I don't love Sam. Please, please, please don't let me be in love with Sam"…

Aww, poor Jin =) I really did enjoy writing this chapter a lot and I hoped that it showed. As always, your comments are appreciated so much! Seriously, I would like to hear anything you have to say: compliments, criticisms, plot ideas. Anything. All of you guys rock!! Gracias y besos!!