Hello gracious readers and reviewers. I bring ye another chapter. Now, I didn't get many flaws for some of the characters submitted so I'll be creating some. Don't worry, no one will be a sadistic murderer or anything like that (well, save one that was submitted that way). Anyways, I'm going to try to keep the updates within 1-5 days apart, so there'll be some irregularity but hopefully not much.

Giving a shout to Xerxes Glace Hydro for being so helpful critically and supporting-wise. You really have been a huge help, so thank you.

Also, lalunaticscribe, you've been helpful too. Always finding something for me to work on. Thank you so much!

Now, on with the chapter!

Surprising Events

Hino returned to her dorm room fairly uplifted. Even though her and Xerxes hadn't shared many words, the meeting was still pleasant. Hino worried a little about the younger girl though. She seemed so cold and lonely, save when she was around Hino. But even then she still had an icy aura. Hino wondered what could have possibly made her so harsh of character.

Hino opened the door to her dorm room and plopped her finished homework on the desk in the room. The dorm room was fairly large and had two beds on either side of the main room, made of cherry wood and fixed with lavender and royal purple bedding. There was a cherry wood desk next to the front door of the room and a dresser next to it, complete with symmetrical sections of draws, one for each student in the room. The room also came with it's own bathroom which held a bathtub that also had a showerhead in it, the obvious piece of furniture, a toilet, twin sinks and a vanity desk, complete with a large oval mirror, the colour scheme of the rooms matching the bedding.

Hino looked up from the desk to see Jeff and Kheika engaging in some 'romantic' activities that included hand holding and lip locking. Hino froze upon discovering them, and they froze when they noticed her standing there. Hino backed out of the room and slammed the door behind her, completely and utterly in shock.

There was no way on earth she was jealous. None at all. At least that's what she kept telling herself each time she envisioned herself putting Kheika's face through a wall. Jeff was annoying, and way too cheery, and cracked way too many jokes. But she was getting used to him, and the idea of him being her annoying, way too cheery boy that cracked too many jokes.

She shook her head. No way. She should be rejoicing right now. Besides, she had made it pretty clear to him that she was NOT interested. He was perfectly able to kiss whoever he wanted.

Her mind kept yelling at itself as she wandered the halls a bit. She took a break from her inner turmoil to check the time on the clock at the end of the current hall she was in. 7:34pm.

"Time flies when you're having fun." She muttered to herself.

"Indeed." A voice behind her agreed.

Hino did a 180 air turn, caught completely off-guard, to discover the Supervising Attendant regarding her calmly.

"Shimotsuki-sensei! Uh… Hi!" Hino greeted, surprised and nervous.

"Hello Kizana-chan." Shimotsuki returned the greeting, crossing her arms as she did. Hino didn't care what the others thought, Shimotsuki was scary and intimidating as a god.

"M-may I help you at a-all?" Hino asked, still extremely nervous under the supervisor's gaze.

"Not at the moment." Shimotsuki answered vaguely.

Hino felt a shiver go down her spine as the temperature in the hall seemed to drop a bit.

"Curfew is in an hour and a half. I suggest you use that time wisely before heading back to your room." Shimotsuki advised before walking away from the girl and heading down another hallway.

"Man, that girl is creepy." Hino said to herself once Shimotsuki had turned the corner.

Her encounter with the icy girl had temporarily distracted her mind from Jeff. Jeff… He was such a confusing topic for her, yet she had practically just met him. It frustrated her that she had no answers about her feelings towards him. Whether she was jealous, annoyed, happy or angry, she really couldn't tell.

/

Takeshi was feeling pretty much like the biggest ass-hole on the planet.

He went back to his dorm room, constantly repeating Alexianna's lecture in his head. He felt so bad about what had happened, yet the only part his brain would focus on was 'I can't believe I had a crush on you!' It ate at him. This girl who had consumed his thoughts for the past two days, both an the hate and attraction scale had admitted to liking him. Him? Really? He couldn't believe it. It mad him ecstatic and regretful at the same time. He was completely conflicted. All he knew was that he needed to apologize to her quickly.

He was about to pass his own dorm room and head to Alexianna's when he found Stephanie sitting outside his room. He stopped and held a hand out to her to help her up.

"Hey, what are you doing here, Steph?" He asked, trying to hide his negative feelings.

"Just wanted to see if you were busy or not." Stephanie replied casually.

Takeshi gave a slight frown. Part of him wanted to leave the apology to Alexianna till later and just hang out with Stephanie, but he knew he had to fix things with her right now.

"I have to go take care of something, actually, but it won't take long, I promise. You can wait inside if you like." He offered the girl, uncharacteristically rushing his words. He was in a hurry to find Alexianna after all.

Stephanie nodded and entered the room while Takeshi took off towards Alexianna's room.

Once he reached the room, he knocked quickly and impatiently. Xerxes answered the door and let him in.

"Thank god. Please make her shut up." Xerxes instructed as she grabbed a purse, assumingly hers, and left the room, clearly not wanting to tolerate Alexianna's sobs.

Takeshi waited for Xerxes to leave before saying anything. He stood there a moment, observing the damage he had caused and feeling his guilt double in his gut.

"Alexianna-"

"I told you not to talk to me!" she screamed at him before sobbing into her pillow again.

Takeshi sighed and his pained face intensified. He walked over to her bed and sat next to her. She looked up at him, surprised at the bold move.

"Please, let-"

"I said don't!" she yelled at him.

"No! I'm going to apologize, whether you like it or not!" he burst at her, which made her shut up. He continued, "I'm sorry. I was completely wrong judging you like that. Can you please forgive me?" Takeshi genuinely apologized slowly.

Alexianna looked at him, not knowing what to say. He forced her to listen to him apologize, something no one had ever done before. He must've really wanted her forgiveness.

"It's not perfect," she started as she sat up next to him and looked him dead in the eyes, "But it's a start. I… forgive you."

Takeshi started to feel a lot better about the situation and gave a small smile in thanks. Though her face was swollen with tears an her make-up was running all over her cheeks and chin, he still found her quite pretty.

Alexianna felt a tad awkward in this situation. It was new to her. No one had ever gone out of their way to make amends with her before. Maybe Takeshi wasn't a bad guy?

Takeshi went to the bathroom and grabbed some tissues. He sat back down next to the french psychic and started to wipe the running make-up from her porcelain skin. His touch was gentle and soothing to her, and she secretly enjoyed it.

"Thank you." She quietly thanked.

Takeshi gave a small smile as he moved the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "No problem." He replied.

Embarrassed, Alexianna looked down at her hands and started playing with the fabric of her skirt. This was also a situation she was unfamiliarly awkward with.

"I, uh-"

"Would you like to have lunch together tomorrow?" Takeshi blurted boldly, and unwittingly. He hadn't planned to ask her that, it just spilled out.

"Uh… Sure…" she answered, turning red as she did.

Takeshi, who had also turned a shade of red, nodded and stood to leave. He opened the door, but looked back to her and gave a little wave before leaving the room. She waved back at him and watched him leave, feeling her stomach go out of control with butterflies.

/

"Cleotra!" Grace called as she entered the empty library, save for the girl she was seeking.

"Grace, this is a library! Keep you voice down!" Cleotra chided from behind the librarian's desk.

Grace looked around before giving her friend a confused look. "There's no one here…"

Cleotra tilted her head at her and gave a look that read 'shame, shame' before replying "It's still disrespectful, and you didn't know if there were people here or not when you decided to yell my name."

"Sorry…" Grace apologized, not seeing the big deal about what she did. "Anyways, how were your classes?" Grace changed the subject quickly.

Cleotra's expression went from annoyed with her friend's inconsiderate act, to frustrated with the day's events. "They could've been better if not for the moody couple who decided to talk straight through ever single class."

"Are they dating?!" Grace asked, intrigued.

"It was hard to tell. Hino really seems to hate Jeff, but it could've been playful banter. I really couldn't tell. If it was banter, then she needs to lighten it up a bit. She said some pretty hurtful things." Cleotra gossiped.

Grace pursed her lips. "I bet you any money it's that Xerxes kid rubbing off on her. Have you ever seen anyone so cold and rude before?" Grace smack talked.

Cleotra shook her head. "That girl's only 13 too. Anyways, how were your classes?"

"They were okay. I sat with a guy named Vanitas in Art and English class. He's pretty nice. I also sat with Stephanie and Takeshi for a couple classes. I feel bad for her." Grace admitted.

Cleotra furrowed her brow at the comment. "Why?"

"She's obviously into Takeshi, but he clearly isn't mutual about it. Plus, I don't think he even has an idea that that's how she feels. Poor girl." Grace gabbed.

Cleotra shook her head. "That's really unfortunate. Apparently Takeshi hates that Alexianna girl."

"He wouldn't be the only one." Grace added, annoyed at the mention of the french girl.

"What do you have against Alexianna?' Cleotra inquired, a little surprised at her new friend.

"She just rubs me the wrong way. I'm not overly fond of rich snobs like her." Grace gave relentlessly.

Cleotra frowned at her. "You don't know if she's wealthy or not, I wouldn't assume that about her."

"Are you kidding me? Have you seen her? She dresses like some loaded model!" Grace smacked.

"So? You dress like a model, but you're not completely loaded." Cleotra pointed out.

Grace sighed. "I just don't get good vibes from her. Kheika doesn't seem like a bowl of peaches either."

"Whatever. Can you help me organize these books?" Cleotra asked, wanting to get off the topic.

Grace rolled her eyes and nodded. "Sure."

/

Xerxes ran into Hino as she was wandering the halls aimlessly. Hino clearly looked distraught, which concerned Xerxes greatly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Xerxes asked as she caught up with the pinkette, leading her to a nearby lounge.

"Just… stuff." Hino answered, absorbed in her thoughts.

Xerxes sat her down as she gave a slight frown. "Talk to me, what's bothering you?"

Hino sighed before beginning to explain. "I caught Jeff with Kheika. Like, with her."

Xerxes raised an eyebrow as she straightened up a little, not expecting that bit of information. "Okay… And you're bothered by this because..?"

"Because! Because he's Jeff! Jeff, who's annoying and doesn't give up and talks non-stop! He's Jeff and he shouldn't be making out with other people! But whatever, y'know? I mean, he's perfectly entitled to throw his tongue into whoever's mouth he wants to, even though I thought he wanted to throw it in my mouth, but whatever. I'm over it!" Hino blasted in fury.

Xerxes mustered all of her strength to not laugh at her friend. "I'm inclined to disagree."

"WHAT?!" Hino exclaimed, clearly hormonal at the moment.

"It just seems to me that you're hung up on. You've become… possessive, I guess is the word to use." Xerxes admitted while trying to hold back a snicker.

"I- ugh… There's no point in debating this, is there?" Hino gave up.

"I don't think there is." Xerxes agreed. "Don't worry. He'll break it off with Kheika once he realizes that he's hung up on you and you only."

"You really think so?" Hino asked, seeming hopeful.

"Mhm." Xerxes said, truly meaning it.

Hino smiled at her friend, thankful that she had cheered her up. She really was extremely lucky to have a friend like Xerxes.

END

I kind of left it off at a weird area but I thought it was nice to end the chapter on a positive note. Right now it's mainly conflicts between the students, but don't worry, I'll be getting into more action-packed stuff in the next arc, I promise!

Please review!