Alright, so this chapter is Chill's perspective. It's just to let you know what's been going on at the Academy and blah blah life goes on.

I have actually been stuck on this and the next chapter since my last update . I have deleted and rewritten them so many times I was almost ready to give up but last night I said "fuckit" and made myself sit down and write until i didn't hate it as much as I did before. Now I'm going to upload this before I can hate it again. I'm so sorry for my absence guys. I've had a lot going on as I'm sure everyone has.
ANYWAY, enjoy.

The Academy had carried on exactly as it normally would in the days that followed Stealth's departure. No one asked us any questions or even seemed to notice we were one short. The school's designated holidays were fast approaching and everyone spent their time chatting away about plans to go and see family and friends long forgotten since the school term started. It was the only thing on anyone's mind. Not even school work took priority it seemed.

Our little band of misfits had gone oddly quiet though, and it was a little concerning. It was starting to get on my nerves. I mean, yes we were mostly quiet in regards to never drawing much attention to ourselves but this was taking things to an extreme that I didn't like.

Hex and Rider mostly just talked to each other. They were in their own little, gloomy world, although sometimes the atmosphere would shift and they'd smile at each other. We all knew something had changed between them, but they hadn't let much slip.

Hex wasn't her usual moody self, nor was she happy. She was caught someplace in between being distraught and going crazy with a bit of twisted happiness thrown into the mix just to confuse her.
Rider had taken to sitting with us full time now. He was mostly quiet and focused on his unfinished paperwork he had from his classes. He would mostly engage in conversation with Hex and most breaks found them sitting together excluding the rest of us. He would talk to us when addressed, but would rarely start a conversation.

Sprocket would often comment on how deflated the Undead Jouster looked, and how useless he must have felt, being able to do nothing for someone he considered his family. It must have been killing him, but he never let on just how hard he was taking the turn of events.
Sprocket and I would sometimes sit in silence and watch Rider's quill fly across his papers. He insisted upon using it rather than a pen like anyone normal. To amuse ourselves, we would imagine what his reaction would be if he accidentally spilled ink from the little ink well he always had with him all over his work. The thought of him flying into a murderous rage never gets old.
We would whisper the images we had imagined to each other or make the faces silently and then struggle to contain our snickers which would often end in a hair frizzing glare from Hex.

Our group had fallen by one, only to grow by two. Along with Rider, Flameslinger had also joined our ranks. He would sit in the spot that on any normal day would be between Stealth and myself, which was directly across from Rider.
The Archer would try his usual jokes every now and then, and while it did lighten the mood, it wasn't enough to save us from ourselves.
I found him to be great company though, as I always have. He and I had very little trouble striking up a conversation, something Sprocket scowled at which confused me. It wasn't like we excluded her from anything, in fact, we made every attempt to get her to join us and to smile, but ever since Flame had joined us, the Sprocket I knew had been buried under a new mask.

She would shoot him dirty glares whenever he opened his mouth. It really didn't make a lick of sense to me, this wasn't who she was. Even Flame was at a loss as to what he could have done to piss her off so much. She'd never said anything to me, or anyone else for that matter, that she disliked or hated the guy before he had joined us.

Eventually even Hex and Rider had noticed the change in our Golding friend, but they said very little about it. Once Rider did ask her if the wind had changed and frozen her face into place in a permanent scowl. That little remark had earned him a half eaten sandwich to the face, banana and peanut butter to be specific.

Flame and I had laughed about it for the rest of the day, earning us a cold shoulder from both Sprocket and Rider, but it was completely worth it. I think even Hex was smirking to herself as Rider tried to get the sandwich spread from his face.

Sprocket simply refused to talk about what was bothering her and none of us could get it from her so by the end of a week, we had all given up and learned to deal with it. I know that makes us sound like really bad friends, but honestly, the girl can be as stubborn as a dragon protecting it's treasure hoard. You learn not to mess with it.

Every afternoon she would throw herself into her homework or an assignment, retreating into her room after she had finished and picking up where she had left off on a project she had undertaken, which was of course another secret.
It was highly unusual for her to want to keep her latest project under wraps as she was usually dying to tell us all about whatever it was that had her attention. I was starting to get really worried about her.

By the time she was done with her work and secret project it would usually be close to eight o'clock at night. It was always just Hex and I around at that time and the old Sprocket would spring back from the depths. She would go to bed in a wonderful mood, wake up the same as always and be her usual happy self until lunch time, when we'd meet back up with the boys to hang out.

When the break finally hit, it was nice not having to worry about classes on top of everything else that was going on. Most of the school had left and returned home to spend time with their families and friends but a few students stayed behind, myself included. There are multiple reasons why one would not wish to return home.

For Hex and Rider it was simple. They didn't have homes to return to any more. I knew Hex's back story but Rider had always refused to share much of his, other than he was an up and coming champion jouster at some private academy before everything turned sour for him.

For me it was family issues. I love my mother but she drives me up the wall. We always end up fighting whenever I return home so it's just easier if I don't.
I'm not particularly fond of my step father either.

For Sprocket it's much the same as my situation. Last holiday break she was more than happy to pack her bags and rush off home to spend hours upon hours with her uncle in his work shop just as she's always done. Last time was different though. Her mother had voiced her objections and it all ended up in one great argument that drove Sprocket back to the Academy a week early. Sprocket wants to be free to make her own choices and live her life the way she wants, not to be dictated by her mother on what she can and can't wear and do.
Sprocket takes after her mother. Both are stubborn and unafraid to voice their opinions. I often wonder how her father feels about the whole thing. If he's as smart as I think he is then he'll stay out of it. Sprocket rarely mentions him but I know he exists.

Flameslinger's an easy one. He's unhappy with his parents, but he can't go home because there's no one there in the first place. His family was traveling, using the funds his parents had collected from tourists who had paid to look into his eyes when he was but a toddler.
All of us were in shock when he had told us that his parents had actually put him on display in his nursery and charged people admittance to gaze into his unusual eyes. Understandably he was still pretty peeved about the whole thing. They had used some of the gold for his schooling and the rest was now being wasted on a holiday without him. Other than that, he really didn't seem to mind being stuck here with us. His entire group of friends had all gone home as well, but I think beyond that, he was happy to remain here because he was waiting for Stealth.
If I was more girly I'd probably think it was romantic or cute or whatever, but being who I am, I tease him at every available opportunity for being a suck. He teases back, calling me a 'cold bitch' mostly to which I just laugh. It's the truth after all.

Aside from us, there were also a few others that had remained. Wrecking Ball flourished with the lack of students. It just meant more food for him. He spent all day every day rolling around outside and visiting the cafeteria every half an hour. I'm not sure why he stayed but coupled with Pop Fizz's antics, none of us are ever bored.

Pop Fizz I think had been banned from returning home by request of his parents and family. I understand that his last visit resulted in their house exploding and them losing everything they had. I'm pretty sure they're still trying to rebuild.

Camo spends the quiet days lazing around in the sun. He hardly speaks unless he absolutely has to and does very little besides soaking up the warmth from the sun. He says it's his way of regenerating his strength from the long semester of hard school work. I think he just likes the peace and having nothing to worry about for the time being. It's actually a great change from his pranking ways.

Trigger Happy had opted to stay behind. Nobody knew exactly why the Gremlin had decided to stay. Every time he was asked, he would simply laugh like a maniac and run around firing golden coins everywhere. Annoying but also very amusing, especially when he teamed up with Pop and Wreck. The three of them could always put on a good show as long as you took appropriate cover before things got out of hand.

There were several students from the years below our own who were also stuck at school, as well as the small handful from Rider's year group also staying behind. The school was quiet for a change. You could go an entire day and only bump into two different people if you decided to leave your room at all that was.

We still had a couple of weeks before the new semester started and most students would start arriving back in the week before classes. We still had plenty of time to ourselves.
With that knowledge, we found ourselves slipping into a routine.
-Wake up at whatever time you feel like.
-Go and eat something for breakfast.
-Find an activity to occupy your morning before going to the cafeteria to grab some lunch.
-Meet up at the table and eat while wasting the rest of the day.

It was lazy and easy and provided the rest we all needed after a stressful semester, but even so, I could still feel us sinking. Slight changes in everyone were beginning to show, cracks in the surface were getting bigger unseen unless you really looked for them.
It left me worried for our futures, but I wasn't ready to voice my thoughts out just yet, not until I was positive.

So hopefully that wasn't too awful. Now I'm going to try and smash over the next few chapters because they're driving me crazy.

-Xandy