I sigh contentedly as I roll out of bed, my hair in a tangle and my eyes drooping. I glance at the clock. 6:30. Plenty of time to get ready. I change into a light purple Element Animation tee shirt and simple black leggings. I brush my hair, which naturally bounces down to reach the small of my back, and brush my teeth. Normal morning routine.

    Sitting back in the wooden chair at my desk, I pull out a pencil and continue writing my book, whose title I changed to Dominion of Darkness. Still not a great title, but a bit better.
   
John struggled against the chains that fastened him to the wall, screaming. He may have never been afraid of the dark before, but that had changed. That had definitely changed.
    The boy let out another throat-scratching yell as needles seemed to prick deep into his skin, leaving blood splattered on the floor. John closed his eyes, wishing that he would die already, wishing to be rid of this torture.
    Saliva dribbled onto his shoulder, and he looked up to see a huge creature like a centipede standing over him. The screaming started again as the venom in the spit began to eat through his skin. John took a deep breath and closed his eyes again and faded into darkness, which didn't look much different from when his eyes were open. If anything, it was brighter. As he inspected his mind, a bright light came closer and closer, and John eagerly walked into it. Life began seeping out of his body, and all of the sudden, he was still.

As I come out of my writing coma, the alarm clock goes off, letting out a loud screech of protest at Arazia's peaceful sleeping face. She shoots out of bed, scattering the blankets all over the ground. She lets out a sigh and grabs the hot cup of caffeinated tea I prepared for her earlier. "Mornings," she sighs. "I have very mixed feelings about mornings."

    "Same," I shrug nonchalantly, and we go about our normal morning routine.

    Once my friend finishes getting prepared, blue Sherlock tee loose about her shoulders and brown hair swept up into a ponytail at the back of her head, we make our way down to the dining hall.

    The same wide-open wooden doors greet us as we push our way through the milling crowd of students to the buffet. I fill my plate with the same old waffles and blueberry syrup, blackberries piled along the sides of the platter, and two strips of bacon drowning in the syrup. Same old morning, same start to a same old, great day.

    Arazia and I make our way to the same old table we normally sit at, Arazia next to Axe and me next to Archer. I greet him with a friendly shoulder bump, same as always, but I feel something...different...today. Emma is still gazing adoringly at Hox, but he is returning the gaze. Definitely not normal. I notice that the physical contact seems to have been increasing by a long shot. When she laughs, she touches his arm; Hox casually rests his hand on Emma's knee; they even seem to be holding hands under the table. What the heck is going on?

    As the day progresses, Emma and Hox spend more time together. As Arazia, Archer, Axe, and I watch them walk through the hallways together, Emma decides to make a brave move. She leans up and kisses Hox on the cheek. Axe's jaw seems to fall off its hinges. "No way."

    I snort and comment, "It was bound to happen sometime, with Emma staring at him like he's a god or something. He couldn't have ignored her for too long."

    "He's been doing it for five years, Skye. Five years."

    "This is so weird," Arazia agrees.

    Archer nods. "I never thought of Hox as a romantic person. This is totally out of his personality. I want to know why."

    I nod, a small idea forming in my mind. "Well, you know, girls always wanna talk to girls..."

    Axe nods rapidly. "Good. Skye, you do that and report back to us."

    I give a thumbs-up and power-walk down the hallway where Emma is standing next to Hox. I nudge her shoulder gently. "Emma. Hey."

    Emma looks over at me, but it's not the usual bubbly, cheerful smile I normally get. "Skye," she states simply, almost hostilely.

    I frown in confusion but continue to speak. "How's it going with Hox?..." I prod in my girliest gossip voice. Oh, I hate that voice, but I have to admit, it does have its benefits.

    A tiny smile cracks her face of stone. "Oh, he's great. And he's all mine. Don't even think about..."

    "I don't like him!" I stutter. "At least, not like that! I like Archer, you know that. No need to get defensive."

    "I wasn't getting defensive, slob." Her eyes blaze with fury, and she turns to head back to Hox.

"Egotistical narcissistic discombobulated troglodyte," I growl under my breath.

Emma glares at me and in anger I raise my fist. As it is in midair I feel a hand wrap around my wrist. I whip around to see Archer, who is giving me a really? look. I turn back to Emma and wave cheerfully, saying "Bye bye, then," in my girliest voice, and turn to glare down in hatred and resentment. She deserves to be punched.

Archer and I walk back to the others to report. "So, she likes him and he likes her and she is flippin' overprotective. She is also now a turd."

"What???" Arazia asks, shocked. She and Emma are great friends. "What happened?"

I give a short account on what happened, and Arazia volunteers to talk to Emma instead. She is closer to her than I am. Hopefully she will have more luck.