You must have fallen asleep sometime during the night, because you suddenly found your eyes fluttering open in the dimness. A bit disoriented, at first you couldn't remember where you were, or what you were doing, or why your legs felt so cramped up. You weren't even laying down, you realized. Slowly, you turned your head to the left, coming almost nose to nose with a sleeping Arthur.

That pretty much shocked you back to reality. Jolting back in surprise, you realized that you had been leaning against him as you slept. You thanked your lucky stars that he was still fast asleep and hadn't seen it.

Just as you thought this, however, he began to stir. Probably because of your sudden movement. His eyes slowly opened, and then he jerked upright as soon as he saw you.

"Good morning," you mumbled. Or was it morning? You honestly had no idea how long you had been trapped in that closet. Classes had probably already begun. All you knew was that your legs were sore as heck, and you were definitely regretting not having dinner the night before. "So, what's the plan to get out of here?"

"Er—" he started, a little groggily. Suddenly, the closet door was flung wide open, bathing the two of you in light from the hallway. You both cringed in surprise and turned to face whoever it was who had found you.

"WHAT ON EARTH?" Obviously, they were just as startled as you. As your eyes adjusted, you saw one of the staff members standing above you. You recognized him as someone from the music department: maybe the orchestra director. His shocked expression rapidly changed to one of severity. "And just what do you think you're doing in here, you two? Does this look like a snog closet to you?"

You didn't say anything. Arthur jumped up, flushing red and straightening his tie.

"I-I can explain, sir—"

"I understand perfectly well, young man! You should know that this sort of conduct is extremely disgraceful! Do you want to tarnish the reputation of our academy?"

Neither of you answered.

And that was how you landed yourself in the detention hall on the second day of the school year.

"So… What're you two in for?" A roguish looking guy with pale hair slid over to your end of the table, grinning widely. The three of you were the only students in the room.

You glanced at Arthur, who was sitting across from you, a scowl permanently fixed on his face. "Buzz off, Gilbert," he muttered irritably. You could tell he was in an extra-touchy mood, so you decided not to say anything.

"I thought your teenage delinquent days were over! You tired of the gentleman act?"

"I am NOT a delinquent!" Arthur brought his textbook up to his face, trying to shut him out.

"Hey, you should be proud of yourself!" Gilbert swung his feet up and onto the table, leaning back in his chair to get a glimpse past the book. "Everyone has their phases! Except me. I've been this awesome all my life!"

Arthur slammed his textbook down onto the table. "SHUT UP, YOU BLOODY IDIOT!"

You realized that you were staring, and quickly reverted back to scribbling notes down on paper. Seeing as you had missed the first half of the day, you had plenty of work to make up. You just hoped that your parents wouldn't hear about what had happened… you had never gotten detention before, and they would probably have a heart attack.

You managed to ignore Gilbert's pestering for the rest of the two hours, and were enormously relieved when you were released back to the dormitories.

That was definitely a wonderful start to the year. Tackled twice, locked in a tiny closet, and then sentenced to the room of boredom all in two short days.

On your way out the door, you heard someone calling your name.

"Hey, Laurel!" Alfred bounded up to you, grinning. "I heard about what went on last night!" He winked.

Oh, God… You felt your stomach sink.

Alfred put a hand on your shoulder. "Seriously, I had no idea he had it in him!"

"Who? What?"

"So tell me," he cupped a hand around the side of his mouth and whispered in your ear, "is Arthur a good kisser?"

"EXCUSE ME?!" You yanked yourself away in shock.

"Oh, come on! Everyone in the school practically knows how—"

"ALFRED!" You turned to see Arthur marching up towards you. He looked as if he was about to stuff his fist down the other's throat. He grabbed Alfred's shirt and began dragging him away, fuming.

The whole scene would have been pretty comical, except for the fact that you were utterly mortified by the fact that apparently rumors had been spread about you two throughout the entire campus.

Not wanting to face any more people that day, you made your way back to your dorm room. You suddenly felt extremely tired, and all you wanted was to get some sleep, after a day like this.

Sonia was sitting on her bed when you opened the door and slid inside.

"There you are, Laurel," she said. "I haven't seen you all day! I was a bit worried when I woke up and saw that you weren't here." Apparently the rumors hadn't reached everyone. You didn't feel like explaining anything to anyone at the moment.

"Umm, just a medical emergency. I'd rather not talk about it right now."

She seemed to understand.

Both of you began preparations for bed. You talked a little while you organized your things again, but soon the conversation died down due to how tired you both were. You grabbed some pajamas and headed towards the bathroom.

Suddenly, everything went dark. "W-what just happened?" You felt a creeping sensation up your neck. "Where'd the lights go?"

Then, out of the blue, the lights returned. You saw Sonia's startled face on the other side of the room. "What was that?" you heard her ask.

Then the crazy part began. The light began to turn on and off, over and over like someone was flicking the switch up and down, up and down. Even the lamps were flickering, flashing spookily in some chaotic rhythm.

The two of you froze, staring at each other, and then up at the light fixtures. "What on earth—"

"Do you feel that?" you interrupted as a cold chill washed over you. There weren't any window open, so why did you feel a draft up your neck?

"What is that?" You heard a note of fear in Sonia's voice. You were beginning to be creeped out yourself.

Then, almost as soon as it had begun, the flickering stopped. The lights went back to their steady glow, and the sudden chill vanished. You both remained still, not knowing what to say, or what to do.

A minute passed. Finally, you sank onto your bed.

"Okay… So please tell me that was just some freak power surge…" Your voice shook a little, against your will.

Sonia stirred from her motionless position. "That doesn't make sense. The power system here at the academy is flawless." She stood up. "Maybe it was just a prank of some sort. People playing with the electrical switches." You could tell that she was trying to sound reassuring. You doubted that anyone would even be able to get access to any switches like that, if there were any.

But right now, that was the only explanation you had.

However reluctant you were to shut the lights off and try to sleep, the two of you decided that this was the only option. You would ask around in the morning, and everything would be explained. As you slid underneath the covers, you tried to focus your thoughts on other things.

This school is not haunted… This school is not haunted… This school is not haunted…