I walked into my art class today and sat down at my regular desk, avoiding looking at people. I'm not in the mood to make friends anymore. I need the space. Too many people remind me of someone else, and it kills me inside. No one usually sits next to me, so it works out fine. It's not like the teacher expects us to do art in groups anyway. It's only drawing and painting.

I sat down with a thump in my chair, making it squeak a little against the tile flooring. Looking at the board, I sighed. Oh great. We're doing still-lifes. I hope it's easy...

      In the middle of my reverie, I heard a thump as someone dropped their bookbag into the chair next to mine. I looked beside me with surprise. Damian stood next to me, taking out pencils and a notebook before placing his bag on the floor and sitting down. He studied the board for a second before giving a short nod and opening his notebook and immediately starting to sketch out the set-up the professor had put out for us.

     I stared at him. What. Where'd he come from? I studied him for a second. His eyebrows were furrowed in a look of concentration as he moved the pencil against the paper. He sat back in the chair, propping up the notebook against the corner of the table to keep it up as his eyes moved from the set-up at the front of the room to his rendition periodically.

      He stopped for a second, his pencil freezing mid-stroke and I whipped my head back to the front of the classroom with a jolt. No need to sit there until he finds out I was staring. I felt his eyes on me for a couple seconds before he went back to his work..

I let out a slow breath, and leaned forward to prop my head up with my hand as I waited for Dr. Talin to introduce the lesson for the day.

I hadn't enjoyed art class back in middle school, and I guess some things never change.

------------------

I came back to the dorm after classes and put my things down beside the door before walking over to the living room and collapsing face-first onto the couch. I heard a laugh as Clara walked over to me.

"You dead?"

I made a noise against the couch. "Mmph. I wish."

"What's wrong?" I felt her sit down beside me, and took a second to revel in how she possibly managed to balance her butt on the nonexistent space left over by me.

I turned to face her, not moving from my position. "Nothing. Just art. I can do everything but art. I suck."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please. I'm sure you're not that bad. You're just too hard on yourself," she said, patting my shoulder.

Then she hit me. "Oh!"

I cried out in pain, and looked at her. "Why'd you hit me?"

She ducked her head a little, and looked sheepish. "Sorry," she giggled. "I got a bit excited."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

She stood up and starting walking back to the kitchen. "The three troublemakers invited themselves over for dinner today," she called back at me.

"But it's a Monday," I huffed.

She looked at me over the top of the counter. "Yeah, but no one has classes tomorrow, so it'll just be fun. Come on," she pleaded.

"Sure," I said. It's not like it's in my place to reject them. I barely know them yet.

The Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum came together, followed by a very somber Mad Hatter. Without the hat.

They burst in the house right when Clara and I were getting the table ready, bringing a tornado with them. Tweedle Dee started talking first.

"Heyyy!" she cried, twirling around the living room before falling onto the couch.

Tweedle Dum grinned as he walked up to the table, hands inside his jeans pockets. "We came for food!"

The Mad Hatter breathed, nodding at Clara, then at me.

I almost laughed at my own nicknames for them. They fit.

I bit my cheek to keep from laughing.

"You need to chill, Luke. We're still not done with everything." Clara came to stand beside me.

"It looks good." He looked up at us curiously. "Are you sure you're college students? Do we have the same budget? Because I swear that looks freaking beautiful after weeks of noodles and sandwiches."

I smiled, and Clara clapped me on the shoulder. "It's all her. She did it."

Then she snickered. "If you die, then she did it," she said.

Luke and Madison started laughing, and Clara looked at them, cocking an eyebrow. "I promise. If you die, I'll come to your funeral."

I felt a twist in my stomach and the smile on my face strained to stay there. We needed to change topics.

Luke sat down first and started pouring himself a plate. "It's okay if you all don't want any. I can just stay here all night."

Immediately, Clara and Madison glared at him. "Fight me," they said in unison. They glared at Luke before walking off to wash their hands and I trailed after them, relieved that the conversation had taken a different route.

The tomfoolery continued throughout dinner, and well into the time we spent picking up the table. Luke passed his plate under the faucet and put it in the rack, making me cringe. That wasn't clean.

He jumped over the chairs in his way out of the kitchen and sat on the couch. "What movie?" he called over.

     I looked at Clara, and she shrugged. I guess they're staying. Madison and Luke argued over which movie to watch before trying to take a vote. The vote split evenly over Megamind and Home. I laughed from where I was standing, washing the dishes. They're such kids.

"Hey Zeenath!"

I looked up to see Madison holding up both movie covers. "Which one?" she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Megamind."

I cleaned up and walked out towards them as Luke stood up on the couch. "I don't really mind either, really." I turned to look at Madison. Someone screamed something at me, and I looked up, my eyes connecting with Damian's right before something heavy hit me from behind and knocked me to the floor.

I felt the weight being lifted off me and I moaned, rolling over to stare at the ceiling. Ugh.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry." Luke extended his hand towards me. I heard Madison and Clara doubling over with laughter.

"He landed on you!" Madison snorted. "He smashed you like a pancake!" She fell over and continued laughing before trying to sober up. "Are you okay?" She asked between laughs and snorts.

I blinked and took Luke's hand to stand up. "I think so." I let out a light laugh watching Madison try to control herself. Clara was long gone, laughing so hard I wondered where she found the time to take a breath.

Eventually she got control of herself, and looked at me apologetically. "The rest of us are used to Luke launching himself from random places. I forgot to tell you, though. I'm sorry you got caught underneath."

Luke's smile had disappeared. "Are you sure you're okay? I hit you pretty hard," he looked at me.

I waved him away. "Yeah, I'm fine." I rubbed my shoulder. "I will be, anyway."

Clara put the movie in and sat down on the couch. "Let's get started then, we're wasting time."

She wiped tears from her eyes and sniffed, looking over at me and grinning again. I narrowed my eyes at her and stuck out my tongue.

     I took a seat beside her and Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and Hatter sat on the floor in front of us, using pillows and a blanket Madison had dragged from Clara's room to make themselves comfortable. Well, the Tweedle Twins did at least. Damian sat apart from them, almost at the other side of the sofa He reached over and switched off the lights and the movie started.

I only got to watch until Metroman disappeared from the ray-gun before I drifted away and everything turned black.

~Zeenath.

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This chappy, which I hope made you smile by the way, is dedicated to Airinsummer. She's so sweet and you should definitely check out her fanfic if you're interested in the Maze Runner.

Guess what! As some very special people pointed out to me, we've passed the five-hundred read mark! *cheers* *dances* We're at 600 currently, and it couldn't be done without my wonderful readers, both the enthusiastic commenters and the silent ones. (YES! You too!) I appreciate all of you.

I prepared a short haiku to commemorate this moment. *Clears throat*

I'm writing haiku

To celebrate six hundred.

Refrigerator.

*distant cackling as I laugh alone at my own joke* I'm sorry y'all. XD My sense of humor is lame, please don't throw shoes or rotten tomatoes at me!

Don't forget to comment/vote if you liked the chapter! Please. I need to know that I'm not completely lame. O.O
~October