All freshers resented the day that the parties ended and the real work began. Kit Herondale and Ty Blackthorn, however, relished it. This was what they'd come for.

At least, that was what Kit had come for. Ty, on the other hand, had come in part to prove something - to Julian, and to himself. He could make friends, and he could have all these experiences that he wouldn't share with his family, which would make him an entirely different person. Though Ty would rather die than distance himself from his family, he knew that he would not always be able to rely on them. He had to prove that he wasn't just a brother.

Did that make sense? Probably not. A lot of things made sense to Ty, but not to others, such as why people kissed when they didn't love each other, and why there was a word for the sound of wind through trees, which was psithurism. Ty thought it was an okay word, but it only made the B-list of words. Only words like plethora and myriad made the A-list of words.

At this moment, Ty was walking towards the University Library to pick up his assigned reading list. He gazed up at the avenue of beech trees as he walked, observing the silver leaves dangling there like pendants, until he had to jump out of the way of an angry cyclist. "Watch yourself!" Yelled the said angry cyclist over his shoulder.

At this moment, Kit jostled his way off the bus, pretty sure the looming brick building up ahead was the University Library. He wondered how much knowledge it contained.

At this moment, they would meet again. They just didn't know it yet, and wouldn't know it until Ty was walking between shelves, running the tips of his fingers along the spines of books. He stopped, lingering on a particularly dusty volume, his touch feather-light. He stared absent-mindedly past the book and onto the other side of the shelf, where he was met by a pair of high voltage blue eyes.

Kit jumped back, his heart leaping up into his neck. That sounded weird to other people, but it was a fitting description for how he felt, because, if his heart was in his neck, he couldn't breath. That was just how it was for Kit when he was surprised like this. He took a large step back from the bookshelf. "You."

"We were in a cupboard together," recalled Ty cheerfully, seeming unfazed by their chance encounter.

"By accident," corrected Kit in horror. Luckily, no one seemed to have overheard them.

A lengthy silence followed, one in which the two boys regarded each other through the books - Ty with interest, as if Kit were a museum exhibit, and Kit with embarrassment. When they spoke next, they spoke at once:

"History-" said Kit.

"Chemistry." Said Ty.

"Why are you in the history section, then?" Kit asked, tilting his head in question.

Ty could not find a rational answer for this quite yet.