N I C H O L A S

Nicholas was running away from home again, and his parents didn't mind in the slightest. In fact, they were the ones who had suggested it in the first place.

With autumn came another school year. Another season of yellow and orange leaves, of hot coffee by the fireplace, of watching the pouring rain from the classroom windows. Another time to see old friends again and be buried underneath the load of studies. But for Nicholas, it was another chance to escape home.

The journey from the train station to the front gates of Berrington University took almost an hour. It was the same place his own father had gone to years ago to study law, and he wanted Nicholas to follow his footsteps. To disobey his father had been no easy decision, and certainly no easy task, but becoming a lawyer hadn't been the path Nicholas wanted to take. He had wanted to become a writer for as long as he could remember.

It's an understatement to say that his parents hadn't been pleased when Nicholas decided to study Literature, but at least he was going to the same university which his father had suggested in the first place.

The day was darkened by a drizzling fog and the rain poured mercilessly against the cab's windows as it finally slowed down to a halt outside the courtyard.

"Need help with the luggage?" the driver asked, looking behind his shoulder at the young boy in the backseat.

"No, it's fine, thanks. I've got it," Nicholas said with a smile, a dimple appearing across his cheek and his brown eyes lightening up. He then paid the man and got out of the car.

The cab driver had found the boy rather odd during his short time with him; Nicholas Pierce was way too cheerful for someone who was starting a second tiresome year at university. He never seemed to stop smiling, with a spirit so bright that it could shame the sun.

Having forgotten to bring an umbrella with himself, Nicholas quickly ran to the back of the car underneath the heavy rain and opened its boot, taking his trunk out with difficulty. He then made a run for the front doors of the dormitory building that surrounded the courtyard, his chestnut hair already soaking wet. Although he came to a sudden stop when he heard someone calling his name.

As soon as Nicholas turned around, a smile crept through his face when he saw a tall boy approaching him from afar. The boy's hands were handsomely placed in his coat's pockets and his usual smirk was playing at the edge of his lips.

"Enjoying the rain, are we?" Nicholas called out to him loudly over the sound of the storm that was brewing on.

"What rain?" the boy said mockingly, his smirk growing as he shrugged his broad shoulders.

Typical Shawn Anderson, Nicholas thought with amusement.

"How was summer?" Nicholas asked, mirroring his grin as he shook Shawn's hand.

"Other than the time my brother laughed while drinking milk and spat it all out through his nostrils, it was quite uneventful, thanks for asking. How was yours?"

"The usual," Nicholas said as he held on to his little smile, swallowing up every word that he wished to say instead. "Can we go inside now, or would you rather enjoy the beautiful sunny day?"

"You know I'll do anything for you, Niko." Shawn winked at him, making him laugh. Shawn then picked the other side of Nicholas's trunk and helped him carry it inside the West Residency Hall, which was where the boys stayed.

Nicholas noticed that Shawn's almond-colored skin had become slightly darker since last year. He knew that Shawn had spent the summer in his mother's homeland, Puerto Rico, most likely swimming all day long and relaxing at the beautiful beaches.

Wet or dry, long hair or short, tanned or sun-kissed, Shawn had a way of instantly charming anyone he met, with the help of his insanely good looks and humor; he flashed a smile and girls swooned, he walked through the hallways and boys got filled with envy and admiration all at once. Even the professors found themselves charmed by him and his quick wit at times, if not annoyed.

"Has anyone else arrived?" Nicholas asked, walking into the old building. He worriedly glanced down at the dirt he was leaving behind with each step, picturing the angry look on their dormitory manager's face, Mrs. Hester, if she saw the floor in this state.

"Arthur and Isaac are already upstairs. But I suppose his majesty Luca would come as late as he wishes, in his diamond-made car and in his suit of gold," Shawn said scornfully.

Nicholas shook his head at him disapprovingly. "Do you really have to give him such a hard time?"

"Of course I do!" Shawn laughed. "Do you have any idea how fun and easy it is to annoy him?"

"Luca actually sent me a letter earlier this week. He said his train would arrive today."

"Ah, so he's not coming with his private plane?"

Nicholas decided to ignore this remark and placed his trunk down at the bottom of the staircase, trying to rest his arm for a bit before having to drag the heavy luggage all the way up to the second floor, where his dorm was.

"What were you doing outside, anyway?" he asked Shawn, who had again placed his hands in his pockets.

"I love the weather like this," said Shawn, his grin never fading.

Nicholas opened his mouth to reply, but his words were cut short when someone walked into the building and caught his attention.

It was Luca, entering through the doors with the usual dreamy air about him. He still hadn't spotted Nicholas and Shawn, too busy rubbing his feet on the rug at the entrance to scrub the dirt off his shoes.

"Oh, bless him... He's even brought an umbrella with himself, like the little royalty he is." Shawn sighed with a smile, pouting mockingly. "It's like he wants me to tease him."

"Be nice," Nicholas told Shawn warningly, before walking toward Luca, who was now closing his black umbrella and shaking the wetness off it. "Luca!"

The blond boy looked up at the mention of his name, his face brightening up the moment he saw his friend. "Hi, Niko." He shook Nicholas's hand, a little smile blossoming on his naturally pink lips, which Shawn always spared time to make fun of.

"Ah, there's our Little Sunbeam!" Shawn exclaimed boisterously, leaping forward to wrap an arm around Luca's shoulders. Luca tried dodging him and stooping away, but Shawn was already ruffling up Luca's silky, golden hair.

"Ugh, stop that!" Luca tried to escape Shawn's grip pointlessly, but even the attempt was laughable, seeing as Luca was much shorter and smaller than Shawn, and nowhere near as strong.

"Okay, knock it off," Nicholas said as he laughed, pulling Shawn away from Luca. "Anyway, where's your luggage?"

At that question, Luca threw his gaze away, a blush descending on the smooth skin of his rosy cheeks. He mumbled something under his breath, his voice barely audible.

"Oh, my, my, my." Shawn shook his head, a grin appearing across his face as the realization came to him. "Let me guess... Daddy's going to send your wardrobe and trunks with movers who are going to carry them up to your majesty's room?"

"Shut up," Luca muttered, passing them gloomily and walking up the staircase at the end of the hallway, which led them to the dorms.

Nicholas gave Shawn a scolding look.

"What? I was only joking!" Shawn said defensively, shrugging.

"Just apologize, will you?"

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!"

Nicholas rolled his eyes. "Not to me! To Luca!"

"We're not twelve! I'm not apologizing to him for making a little joke! It's not my fault he's too sensitive!" Shawn huffed out, but he then walked up the stairs and followed after Luca all the same.

Nicholas left his trunk downstairs against the wall so he could come back for it later, and followed the other two upstairs.

"Luca! Oi! Wait!" Shawn called out to him as they reached the second floor, quickening his pace to catch up with him before slinging an arm around Luca's shoulders again. "Oh, come now, mate. You can't really be mad at me. I only tease the people I like."

Luca didn't look up to meet his eye as he mumbled with a remote and almost careless voice, "If you say so."

"Hang on," Shawn suddenly came to a stop and his dark brows furrowed. He then pointed at a door down the hall, saying, "Isn't that Arthur and Isaac's room?"

"Is that — is that smoke?" Luca asked, his eyes widening.

Following their gaze, Nicholas saw that they were looking at a few doors down the corridor. And sure enough, he saw smoke emerging from the bottom of the room's door. The next moment, a yell erupted from inside of the dorm.

Sharing a look of horror, the three boys briskly ran toward the door and Nicholas quickly opened it, only to find the room in complete chaos; there was an odd machine in the middle of the room with numerous wires and a camera connected to it, which the great amount of smoke seemed to be coming from.

Isaac had run toward the room's window to open it and Arthur was desperately trying to get rid of the smoke by flapping a towel at the machine. They were both shouting and coughing, their voices mingling together so that no one could make sense of what they were saying over the chaos.

Luca was frozen at the door from shock and Nicholas had immediately rushed forward to help, meanwhile Shawn roared with laughter.

"Now this is what I call a good reunion!" said Shawn in glee.

After the smoke finally died away, Shawn walked to Arthur, who was panting from exhaustion. Shawn clapped a hand behind his back in greeting, almost hurtling Arthur over.

"Care to explain?" Nicholas asked with a little laugh as Arthur stood up straight and took off his large glasses to clean them with the hem of his coat.

"Oh, I'll explain it!" Isaac started before Arthur could get the chance to even open his mouth. Isaac, too, was still out of breath. "He's crazy, is what it is!"

"This isn't crazy. It's ingenious," Arthur corrected him calmly, putting his glasses back on. His hazel eyes always looked twice their own size whenever he had his glasses on.

"I'm not talking about the stupid machine! I'm talking about you! You're crazy!" Isaac shouted at Arthur before sticking his head out of the window, trying to take in some fresh air.

Shawn snorted with laughter, covering his mouth with his hand to muffle out the sound of his sniggering. Nicholas knew exactly what was so funny to him; Isaac hardly ever got angry, and when he did on the rare occasion, it was more adorable than it was scary.

Isaac was older than his four friends, seeing as he had missed school for three years when he was younger — though none of them knew why. But even so, he looked younger than the rest of them. Isaac's face always duped people into believing that he was no older than sixteen, with his short, black hair and greyish-blue eyes.

"There's nothing wrong with being a little crazy. Everyone is sometimes," said Arthur, examining the odd machine and trying to fix the wires connected to it with extreme care.

"Are we going to talk about this weird thing in your room that nearly burned down the whole building or not?" Shawn asked with a smirk. His eyes always seemed to twinkle with excitement after a disaster took place.

Arthur sighed importantly and ran a hand through the light red curls of his hair, quiet for a few seconds as though pondering whether he should tell them or not. At last, he said in a hushed voice, "All right... Luca, close the door. This is very confidential."

"Here we go," Isaac mumbled grimly.

Once Luca had closed the door, they all gathered around Arthur as he began to explain. "This, gentlemen, is what I like to call a Motion Detector Camera. Or an M.D.C, if you will."

"We will not," said Shawn, already looking bored. "Go on."

"Well, a motion detector was a device invented around ten years ago by Samuel Bango, in late 40s. He was working on it during the World War, I think. It's based on the principle of the Doppler Effect and ra–"

"You're losing us again," said Shawn, dropping himself down on one of the beds in the dorm, laying his head down on the pillow with one hand behind his head. "Try speaking English this time."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "It senses when something or someone is moving around a room or area. I thought why not connect a camera to it, so it could take a picture of the thing that is moving."

"Whoa! That's ingenious, Arthur!" Nicholas exclaimed, looking impressed. He loved watching people's faces light up after receiving a genuine compliment. He was so full of hope that he always had enough to spare some for others.

"Thanks, Niko." Arthur chuckled as he pushed his glasses up his nose with a finger, his face flushing red at the rare praise. "No luck yet, though. It still needs a lot of work."

"Well, keep trying. I'm sure it will turn out well eventually," Nicholas said encouragingly. "Just... make sure you don't burn the building down while we're in it, will you?"

Arthur laughed. "No promises."

Isaac groaned, turning to face Shawn on the bed opposite him, saying jokingly, "I'll pay you to switch rooms with me."

"No, thank you. I don't want to be there when the enemies come in the middle of the night to snatch our nation's greatest genius and his invention away," Shawn said dramatically, making them all laugh.