Roman stared at his phone for a few minutes but, when nothing happened, he huffed angrily and put the old phone into his backpack, after putting it on silence. The last thing he needed was to be disturbed by the stupid emo, who was probably with Patton. That made him furious - just the thought of the two hanging out, Virgil slowly ruining his brother, turning him from a loving and trusting guy to a salty and hateful bastard. It was already happening.

He walked up the driveway to his tutors' house, glancing around nervously, checking no one from school was around. Satisfied nobody was nearby, he knocked on the front door and waited. Soon, the door opened for him and he saw his tutor.

Logan was tall, pale man, only slightly older than Roman, and he had a sombre, tired face, that was framed by gelled black hair. His glasses were rigid and sharp, and his eyes were like a stormy sea. It was hard not to imagine him as the CEO of a giant company, and Roman often wondered why he didn't leave town - he'd easily be able to make his own way, even with his lack of social skills.

"Roman, you're late," Logan scolded sternly.

Roman rolled his eyes, glancing once more behind him. "Yeah, but I'm here," He replied. Logan nodded blankly and stepped aside, allowing Roman to step inside. The dramatic guy kicked off his shoes and neatly tucked them to the side, following his tutor through the hall to the tidy living room, where the sessions were held. Roman knelt down on one side of the coffee table, Logan kneeling at the opposite end. "What are we going to cover today, specs?"

"I was thinking that we could study a few poems," Logan said calmly, reaching into a small drawer and pulling out a wad of papers. "I heard that you'll be looking at several in English next term, and I'd like you to go into it with some confidence."

Roman snorted. "I always have confidence, specs."

Logan fixed him with a glare and Roman paled slightly and laughed nervously.

"As I was saying, you'll be covering a broad range of poems from the nineteenth century."

Roman frowned thoughtfully as he watched Logan sort out the paper into small piles. "So, the second world war poems?"

Logan shook his head. "No, that's the twentieth century. Now, I thought that branching out into poems with subjects you were interested in would be useful to helping you remember."

"What type of subjects?"

"Well, I was thinking romance and-"

"I'm in," Roman said firmly.

Logan glanced at him, then sighed. "Of course you are. Well, we'll start by looking at the context of the era and then, soon, hopefully, we can move onto poems. Does that sound okay?"

Roman blinked, looking down at the textfile Logan was passing him, trying to stop the letters from moving around on the page mentally. "Sure. Okay."

.:*:.

The session ended about two hours later and Roman left Logan's house just as cautiously as he arrived. When he was far enough away, he smoothed down his hair, trying to regain his cockiness. It was dark outside, and street lamps lit up the street. Roman would've been scared, but he had walked down this road at this time plenty of times. Besides, he owned a penknife for a reason.

He walked through the dark, enjoying the stillness of the air and the emptiness of the world when he saw a familiar face. A very unwelcome familiar face.

Virgil Jackson was walking across the pavement towards him and the two briefly made eye contact. Instantly, the villain looked to the ground and Roman glared at him until Virgil quickened his pace, hurrying past. Roman watched after him briefly, wondering why he was out so late. Probably getting some drugs.

Continuing his walk home, Roman entered his house, shutting the door and quickly retreating to his room. Sitting on his bed, he shifted off his bag and checked his phone. He'd gotten a message back from Virgil.

I'm in.

Smirking, feeling his plan coming into play, Roman typed back quickly.

Great.

Let the game begin.

"Soon, Jackson," He muttered to himself, looking down at his phone victoriously. "Soon I'll know what you're really like, and Patton will too."