According to the super, they are to stay put until further notice. All staff members are instructed to remain indoors until the super decides that it is safe to leave. Rumours spread through the staff teams and discover that the super is off-campus. The super's fiancé lives in town, and so that is where they suspect the super has gone. Darlington hears about it from Hadley before anyone else. He keeps it to himself because it will do nothing but anger the resident assistants. They were all told to stay by the supers, and yet the supers fled town before the snow arrived.

By and large, the resident assistants are discussed by the unit in two groups. First-timers are those who have not worked in residence before. Ro, Moonie, Calypso, Benedict, Jerry, and Galilee are the members of the team who fit into this category. Generally, there are more first-timers every year because fewer and fewer people choose to come back.

The other group, the returners, is comprised of both second-timers and third-timers. One of the benefits of returning is a slightly higher stipend at the end of the semester. Yet, this comes with certain responsibilities. As such Marcellus, Darlington, Maverick, Tempest, and Elodie are tasked with helping the first-timers with tasks and discouraging gossip amongst the team. Returners aren't supposed to say anything bad about their job. Darlington takes his work seriously, and so when Hadley texts him the heads up, he keeps the information to himself.

It would be all right if Elodie and Marcellus didn't hear the news and decided to come down from whatever depths of the building they crawled into together. Elodie eats five pancakes, and usually, she is content to go with the flow, but as her hands feel the cheap pleather seats, her nerves buzzing from the texture, she cannot help but complain.

"It's bullshit," she shakes her head. "I could've been out of here yesterday. The super didn't even follow policy."

Ro has to leave the room. She stands in the washroom and screams to herself, shrieking. Elodie barely notices but the others do. Marcellus feels the panic. Usually, being high doesn't make him paranoid, but he's already been so on edge lately that he cannot help it. He wants to play video games but instead gets some cheap pencil crayons and some adult colouring sheets from their team meeting on prioritizing mental health strategies. The meeting was bullshit; if he wanted not to feel like shit, he'd just quit the job. The colours swirl on the page as he draws.

Then, people start to make calls to let their families know.

~~~

On the top floor, Galilee stares up at the ceiling. She hasn't changed out of her clothes, even though wearing them is wrong. She doesn't have to do it anymore. Taking them off is out of the question anyway.

~~~

In the privacy of his room, Jerry makes the call. In his anti-suicide chair, he leans back and puts his legs on his desk. The room is littered with takeout containers from the on-campus restaurants. This year, the Food Services Unit is trying to become more eco-friendly, and so they are up charging students for their mandatory reusable containers, which students can return at their leisure. Jerry hasn't returned some from frosh week.

He doesn't speak on the phone, except to say okay. He shifts in the Jerry, and it nearly topples over. The anti-suicide chairs, while preventing students from tipping over from leaning, tend to lean on their own. In that way, they may be anti-suicide, but they are pro-anxiety. He just listens to his mother ramble, ignoring most of it. Something about carbon monoxide poisoning from space heaters, which aren't even allowed in residences anyway.

~~~

Since Elodie has already chatted with her brother, she spends most of the afternoon giggling once her anger subsides. Everyone just needs to chill out, she thinks. She wishes she could make edibles in the oven and pass them out, just to see what people would be like while high. It would be too mean for her to trick Tempest into taking one, given her religious nature, but Elodie kind of wants to force them upon Benedict and Ro so that they mellow out.

~~~

On the fifth floor, Benedict is unpacking a suitcase while he talks to his father.

"You know, it'll clear up by the evening," his father's voice crackles on the line. "Don't even bother unpacking pajamas."

"Will do," Benedict says, shoving two pairs of jeans into his drawers.

"I mean it," his father says. "Your mother and I are personally going to find Jack Frost and give him a piece of our minds."

Benedict hates that his father seems to have forgotten that Benedict is no longer a student in his eighth-grade history class. Mr. Atwell is great with kids, but Benedict is an adult. Even with a driver's license and student loans, Benedict still listens to his father remind him to keep up with schoolwork and clean his room. Sometimes, Benedict worries that he will become a middle school teacher who treats adults like children just as his father is.

"I'm fine," Benedict says. "I can handle myself here for a few days. I've been doing it for months now."

"Yes, well... we worry," his father says. "Take the opportunity to make some friends. Get them to play a boardgame, or something!"

Benedict hates this. One year, his father bought him a book for his birthday called 10 Steps to Making Friends as a Teen Boy and Benedict knows now that his father was only trying to help, but Benedict definitely cried about it for a couple of hours. Benedict cried a lot back then.

However, no blizzard could ever make him as sad as he was in high school, so he should be fine.

~~~

Maverick thinks Galilee is the smartest he's ever met. Of course, other than Benedict, who is always willing to study with him even though Maverick struggles. Also, Darlington, who knows not just his classes but residence policies inside and out, is a genius. Ro is a computer engineer and when some students got trapped in the laundry room, Ro was clever enough to unscrew the door rather than wait for the facility unit to arrive. It's not computer engineering, but it's still clever.

Still, Maverick's mind cycles through his genius friends as he talks to his family on speaker phone, promising Twyla that he has a special day in store for her. He thanks Galilee in his head, and then feels bad for not thanking Benedict and Darlington and Ro, and also all of the others.

"You're going to have to help me, Twy," Maverick says. "No spoilers, but I'll need your advice on colours."

Maverick just wants sparkles in his nails. His colour blindness is rarer than other types. He is told that everything looks either red or turquoise, unsure what that means. Allegedly, the balloons that Moonie had purchased were gold, but they looked pretty similar to the streamers. Maverick liked the way they shimmered in the light. He takes wins where he can get them.

"You'll be home by the twenty-third, right?" Twyla asks.

She hates sharing her birthday with Christmas. So long as Maverick can go home tomorrow, it'll be fine.

"Polly as my witness," Maverick says, putting a hand over his heart. Twyla cannot see him mime it. She cannot see how he sits on his bed, staring up at the photos and posters he has collected over the summer.

He wishes he had the forethought to try to find a poster for one of the movies he and Moonie saw during the winter break. Also, he wishes he had the forethought to buy Twyla a gift. No matter. He'll be home before she turns seventeen.

~~~

Tempest tends to her tea plants while avoiding a call to her parents. They're dying. It's too cold by the windowsill, the building has terrible insulation, but the plants need at least partial sunlight. Tempest texts her mom that she is helping Galilee. She lies about Galilee having a panic attack, which Tempest knows is a sin, but she has done so much sinning without properly repenting that she just adds this to her list of wrongdoings.

It's a great distraction too because her mother knows that the name Galilee is biblical, and then Tempest can turn the conversation toward their shared faith. Tempest ends up dipping her fingertips in rubbing alcohol to keep herself from biting them. She does everything and anything that she can think to do.

If Tempest weren't so shy, Galilee might understand. She knows Galilee is from Utah, and so Tempest assumes she is Mormon. Darlington can't understand the corner Tempest is in. Unlike men, all sins are not equal in the eyes of God. Lying is okay, to bide time, but it can only bide time. Eventually, her parents are going to know she is pregnant.

Tempest plants are definitely going to die.

~~~

Daniel Arlington is a busy man. Darlington, his son and the eighth man in his family line to bear the name, knows this about his father, even if he knows little else. Daniel Arlington donates to Darnley every year, and Daniel Arlington was a bit of a rascal when he was on campus, and so Darlington is always on his best behaviour.

Instead of calling Daniel Arlington, Darlington calls Hadley. It is easier for them to communicate quickly. Darlington hates texting and Hadley hates pissing off Darlington.

"We're already at each other's throats in Burns Hall," Hadley says. "I'm going to dig a tunnel to you if this keeps up."

Darlington shakes his head, "just find one of those tunnels used by the facilities unit."

"Yeah right, those have been out of commission since the 1980s. Both Burns Hall and Pearcher House don't connect to them anyway. I mean, maybe we could blow our way in. Do you think fart bombs are powerful enough?"

Hadley has been dealing with fart bombs all semester, and Darlington has been dealing with Hadley complaining about the first-timers complaining about the students complaining about fart bombs. Darlington thinks first-timers need to put it into perspective. He had to call an ambulance on a guy ODing during his first frosh week as a resident assistant, and he had to help a student who was worried about her roommate's violent boyfriend the next week. Fart bombs are annoying, but so many things are annoying including so many of the other resident assistants.

"Listen, we're not doing well in here either," Darlington offers. "Someone needs to do a threat assessment on Ro before she murders Benedict in his sleep. I need to hide the master key."

"Yeah, good luck," Hadley says. "Let us know if you need support. I'll figure out a way to teleport over. Maybe I could paraglide."

~~~

Marcellus waits for a call that never comes. He's not disappointed. After all, his expectations have been met. He would be thoroughly impressed if someone he called family had thought to check in on him. His parents will justify it by saying they thought the other would call. His sister wouldn't even notice. Her autoimmune disease gives her frequent fevers, and the more you feed a fire, the more risk there is of the fire spreading and taking over. Marcellus was reduced to ashes years ago, and yet the fire burns and burns still. If he were still able to move, he might try to smother the flame. Instead, he decided it was best to let the wind carry away what was left of him.

~~~

"Enzo, I'm so so so sorry," Callie says. She's smoking a cigarette out of her window. She would smoke a third, but she doesn't know how long she will be here and she only has six left in the pack.

"Lys, if I have to hear you say sorry again, I'm going to return your gift and instead pay for your therapy," Enzo laughs.

He's trying to be kind, but Callie finds it deeply humiliating. He already pays so much of her tuition. He paid for the pillow top on her bed when he found out the residence mattress made her spine ache, and he paid for better art supplies when he found out she lied about the college paying for them, and he paid and paid and paid. The décor in her room was her doing, from the string lights and the artwork on the walls to the bins of fabrics and makeup. She wouldn't have money to make her space feel like a home if it weren't for him. He is responsible for the only home she's ever had, and she hates that he has only seen it in photos.

"Sorry," she says, and then winces.

"You're sure you go to school in northern Michigan and not Canada?" Enzo chuckles. "Listen, Callie, you don't control the weather. And if you did, I still wouldn't blame you for causing the storm to avoid listening to Thalia and Matteo one-up each other for hours on end. Just, stay safe, make art, and I promise you're okay, okay?"

Callie nods, "okay."

It's been so long like this that she isn't bothered when Enzo tried to get her parents on the phone, but they both decline. Her mother's hands are covered in flour and her father just needs to finish filling out an excel file. They might not get around to calling her back, but they do love her. At least, according to Enzo, they are busy and they love her. Enzo is many fantastic things, but he is a rotten liar.

~~~

Moonie paces their room. They pick up the phone and put it down. Their little sister, Kiana, is going to be so disappointed. Their mother is as much of a ghost on the phone as she is in person, and so Kiana is going to be home alone for Christmas. Eventually, after staring and staring, Moonie closes their eyes and presses the call button. They hover their finger over the button, close their eyes, and press down. They pray that they miss.

Moonie isn't religious. If they were to pray, they think it might be fun to pray to a Greek God from the books they loved so much as a kid. Now, they're more into Marvel. They think that their kind of a Peter Parker type of person, so praying to Thor is off the table.

"Miana!" their sister says on the line. "How're you, middle?"

Moonie tries not to wince. They don't mind being called Miana, but it is hard when it comes out of Kiana's lips. They feel like it should be preceded by the names Liana and Tiana. Their mother always would roll call the sisters in that order before they got in the car. Worse, Kiana calls Moonie the middle. If they weren't roll-called by name, their mother would refer to them as the twins, the middle, and the little. Now, there are no twins, and only a middle and a little. Kiana can tell people she is the little to Miana, but Miana cannot explain whom they are the middle to without thinking of their dead sisters.

Liana and Tiana used to be competitive, but Moonie didn't like to play. Their games were often races. First to finish their dinner, to make it upstairs, to get a boyfriend, or get into college. Moonie would compare themselves to the pair, even if they never officially played. This year, Moonie beat them forever. First to hit twenty-one.

"Fine," Moonie says. "Just, let Mom know I'm not going to be able to come home until tomorrow. I already told Aunt Kylie, so it's fine."

Aunt Kylie lives only an hour away, so she was supposed to drive Moonie home. Their mother cannot drive, and Moonie cannot either. They don't like to dwell on the bad, but today feels like an okay exception.

~~~

Ro could not handle a call to her parents. So, she sends them a link to the weather report and mutes them. She worries she might have to block them, but she doubts her parents would let that happen. They would fly up themselves despite the storm so that her mother could throw her chanclas at Ro while her father scolded her and boxed her ears.

Instead, Ro screams into the pillow. She can feel her throat going raw. It's terrible, all of it. The worst thing about this is that there isn't really anyone to blame, except the supers who are all gone but told the resident assistants to stay. Ro likes to think she left her rebellious phase behind her, but tonight is proving different.

~~~

Group Chat

Nicknames, as made by Maverick

Galilee: Maze Runner Eyebrows Guy
Jerry: Seinfeld
Elodie: Melodie
Benedict: Cumberbatch
Maverick: Clara's beard
Tempest: Stormy
Darlington: Darlington
Marcellus: Marky Mark
Calypso: Homer's Girl
Moonie: Moonie
Ro: Ro your boat

Ro your boat

How can we get revenge on the super?

Moonie

the best revenge is living happy
:)

Melodie

lol Moonie
nah lets topple the system from the bottom up

Seinfeld

i can get potassium nitrate if that helps

Marky Mark

... um, wtf???

Cumberbatch

He's being funny. Jerry isn't actually going to make a pipe bomb.

Melodie

@Jerry confirm?

Seinfeld

i can also break some plates and collect some lose nails

Cumberbatch

He's joking.

Ro your boat

Okay, so actual revenge ideas???
???

Darlington

If you want to plot revenge, make your own group chat with Jerry. This is a work group chat. On the record, I would like it known that I disavow all forms of violence and destruction of property.

Maze Runner Eyebrows Guy

@Darlington I don't think that will hold up in a court of law. I mean, it could. I'm not a lawyer.

Melodie

^^ @Moonie ??

Moonie

dont make a pipebomb!!!
also sorry @Darlington, but i think ur wrong

Clara's beard

we still have plenty of liquor

Seinfeld

We can use it to set the lounge on fire

Clara's beard

no!!!
@Jerry sometimes u scare me

Cumberbatch

I can bring boardgames

Marky Mark

Boredgames lol

Seinfeld

like bored?

press F in the chat

Melodie

drinks at 11?

Stormy

If people want alone time, we should respect that too.

Homer's girl

Yeah. The last couple hours have been a lot, so no pressure

Clara's beard

no way
I mean, if u want you dont have to come, but like, we should get together

Darlington

Right. We need to take stock of our inventory and see what we have to eat and plan out the next few days. It might be useful to start thinking about meal planning as a team for the next few days

Melodie

lame

Darlington

Sure, maybe, but we should get together at 10:30 PM any way to discuss our plan as a team, like a regular staff meeting, and then if people want to socialize afterwards they can, but no one has to stay.

Marky mark

lame

Melodie

super lame

Seinfeld

Press F in the chat to pay respects to that idea

Clara's beard

we should organize a secret santa too!!

Marky mark

wut?

Maze Runner Eyebrows Guy

@Maverick it might be hard to get gifts because of the storm

Stormy

It's a sweet gesture though

Moonie

i think it's a great idea

Seinfeld

I hope I get Ro
Pipe bomb

Ro your boat

Finally, we're getting somewhere with revenge

~~~~~

No idea if this chapter actually formatted properly, but I went in and fixed it again so I can only hope.

Anyway, let me know what you think. I liked the Benedict book moment, which is based on a true story. This is long, but I had to include the group chat. Like, I love the group chat. These peeps are so ridiculous lol