I survived the first day.

I walked proudly down the steps of the Science and Math building, thinking that maybe I should message Haleigh and see if she was going to the second day of soccer tryouts this coming Thursday. An arm came around my shoulders unexpectedly, and my first instinct was to bite whatever was closest to me, which was a hand.

"Holy shit!" I recognized Jesse's voice as he bent over and held his hand to his stomach. "What the hell, Scout?" he whimpered, causing students to look in our direction.

I gritted my teeth. "What did you think was going to happen?" I looked down at him as he kept making weird faces.

"What?" he snapped. "That was literally the last thing that I thought would happen!"

I didn't know what to do for him, so I put my hand on his back. "Well, sorry?" Apologizing felt unnatural to me, even trying to sympathize felt foreign, like someone was brushing my hair the wrong way.

He squinted up at me, pain still written all over him. "Why was that the first thing you did?" He stood up finally, shaking out his arms and wincing at the same time. "Damn it, Scout, did you live in the wild or something?"

"Well, yeah."

Jesse did a double take and furrowed his brows. "Really?"

"Where do you think I came from?"

He dabbled the question in his mind. "I don't even know why that surprises me, honestly." I had stumped Jesse, and I rewarded him with a smile.

He smiled in turn. "You'll have to tell me about that sometime. But first things first, let's go to Pete's." He started walking, expecting me to follow him. "So how was...what are you doing?" He looked back at me. "Are you coming?"

"Why do you want to hang out with me?" I asked.

"Don't you want friends?" he asked back.

"I mean, not really."

"Scout, just come on."

"Just because that's the way I'm going anyway."

We walked to the boys' dormitory at a steady pace, Jesse was longer legged so I had to quicken my feet to match his. He held the door open for me and a couple guys behind us. "Big game this week," one of them said, and the other carried on, "Jess, you going?"

"So long as I see Hunt mess up again." They all laughed and I stared at a wall. We got to the elevators and Jesse leaned back on the railing. "Brooklyn Hunt," was all he said.

Oh.

There was a mirror on the ceiling which was neat. The elevator gave a jolt, and a bing, and the doors slid open.

"I don't hate him," he started, trailing off as we stepped out.

"I didn't ask."

He ignored me. "It's just that there's nothing to like about him, you know?"

We were unsure as we led ourselves down the hall, but Jesse made an "a-ha!" once he found the door he was looking for. He brought a fist to wood, knocking loudly. A minute passed, he knocked again. We looked at each other and I could see he was getting annoyed. A few more minutes, and a few more knocks, and then I took it upon myself to slam the side of my fist three times on the door.

Peter peered out. "Oh, hey," he said and backed away to let us in.

The dorm smelled as if an Abercrombie & Fitch store and a coffee shop had a baby. Clothes littered the sides of the room, and piles of pizza boxes were stacked on the coffee table in front of a black couch. There was a bunk bed on one side, and I finally noticed that Cam the cashier from The Bean sat hunched back on the couch, beer in hand, and a headset blocking his attention from us.

"You fucker!" Cam yelled into the mic, slamming the beer on the table.

Peter sat on a chair with wheels, using his legs to pull up to Jesse and me. "Beer? Water? A chip perhaps?" He held out a bag of Miss Vickie's toward us. "What can I do you for?"

Jesse took the chips and then slumped down on the couch next to Cam. "Weed," he said around a mouthful.

"Ah," Peter nodded and looked at me, "and you, m'lady?"

Cam seemed to realize that he had company, and threw his headset onto the bed behind him. "Oh, hey."

Jesse touched his shoulder. "Yes, that's a girl," he reassured him.

Cam slapped his hand. He stood up nervously, wiping his hands on his jeans, and then interlocking his fingers in front of him. "Medium roast with only a bit of room?" he echoed my order from Saturday.

I tilted my head, wondering why it seemed like he rehearsed that. "You remember?"

"Meet Campbell Perry, the most awkward and inexperienced lad you will ever lay eyes on," Peter introduced him.

I saw Cam's cheeks flush as I neared him. "Careful Cam, she bites," Jesse chuckled.

Cam stared at me as I took the cushion between him and Jesse. "I'm going to leave if you keep looking at me like that," I told him.

"Or bite you," Jesse quipped.

Peter spun in his chair, taking the conversation in and only replying with, "Feisty!"

"Sorry, it's just you look like a guy I know," Cam said, causing Jesse to wheeze out laughter.

"That's what I said!" Tears began to form in Jesse's eyes.

I inhaled sharply. "Honestly, this is boring and I'm leaving," I said, getting up.

Jesse groaned and grabbed my arm. "We're just kidding around, Sattler."

Peter choked while drinking his beer. "Sattler?" he coughed, putting his can on his desk. "Jean Louise, are you Jack and Joe's sister?"

"Jean Louise?" Cam started.

I shook Jesse off and looked at Peter with hard eyes. "What if I am?"

Cam's eyes widened and he stared at Peter. "You're dead meat, dude." He saw the confusion on my face and continued, "Pete and your brothers hate each other."

Peter scoffed. "I'm not worried, I haven't even laid a hand on her."

"Well, that's a lie." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

Jesse jumped out of his seat. "Pete, beer is over here?" Without an answer, Jesse opened a mini fridge and took a bottle of Winterale out. He scurried over to me and threw his arms around my shoulders once again. "Drink," he commanded.

"I am not drinking in some random guys' dorm room," I protested angrily, shrugging myself out of his arms. "How are you guys even allowed to do these things?" I looked around the room, spying a container that I could assume had weed in it.

"Cam's sister's fiancé is our dorm advisor," Jesse explained, "he literally never checks in on these two."

"Why'd you tell her that?" Peter groaned, throwing his hands up and spinning his chair around so his back was to us.

I sneered at the back of his head. "It's not like I'm going to tell anyone."

Peter threw a look over his shoulder. "I don't believe you, J.L."

"Stop with the nicknames, I don't even know you!"

Jesse opened the bottle and tried once again to get me to drink it. I was getting madder by the second. Instead of pushing the beer away like I had originally planned, I grabbed it and threw back my head to down it as quickly as possible.

I pushed the empty bottle back into Jesse's hands and took in the dumbstruck boys that were left speechless.

"What the..." Cam couldn't seem to find words, and Jesse's mouth hung open. Just as Peter was slowly getting up from his chair, a knock on the door broke the silence.

Cam came to and sprung toward it.

"Uhm, hello." I turned as I heard Cam's voice break a little, something I noticed happened when he was nervous.

A girl stood at the door, her hands on her hips. She had long blonde hair and green eyes that scanned the room. Her mouth parted as she took in the scene before her. "Peter?" she demanded. She saw him over Cam's shoulder and her face twisted into something much darker than it had been.

She stormed passed Cam. She wore a long-sleeved white shirt that hugged her slender frame, and loose jeans that stopped above her ankles. Her shoes were short black boots, and I found myself staring at them incredulously.

"Sydney?" Peter backed up, confused.

Sydney pushed him slightly and held up a menacing finger. "You give me back my phone, right now!" She was fuming. "Do you know how long it took me to figure out which dorm was yours?"

She must have felt our stares because she turned to look. "Sorry," she apologized, before focusing back on Peter.

Peter was a good few inches taller than the girl, but she was tall herself, so I found myself staring up to them, and then to looking at Jesse and Cam. This was the perfect opportunity to leave.

"Do I smell weed?" Sydney plugged her nose and looked around.

Peter slid out from in front of her. "Syd, you can have your phone back on one condition."

"You can't just keep my phone from me!"

"I really need help with math this year," he whined, his hand on the drawer under his desk.

Jesse leaned down to me, ignoring my frantic glances. "He's failed so many times. Syd is like girl-genius or something," he explained.

Sydney rolled her eyes, irritated. "Just give it back." She held out her hand while Peter handed a large cellphone over.

She tried to take it from him, but Peter pulled back. "Just say yes to helping me."

She glared and snatched the phone from him. "You deserve to fail again. And again, after that." She adverted her eyes to me and I hadn't realized that I probably looked too invested in the conversation at hand. "I don't think we've met," she said.

"Oh, uh – Scout," I stammered, trying to gather myself. 

"Sattler," Cam interjected, vying for Sydney's attention. "Scout Sattler."

"Ah," Sydney smiled as she shook my hand, "That's why you look familiar!" I heard Jesse try to hold in a chuckle. "So, Scout, why are you here?"

"Yes, J.L., what brings you to our humble and prestigious school?" Peter mocked, seeming to have some sort of vendetta against Douglas Hayes.

With all eyes on me, my heart began to pound. I barely knew these people, so I wasn't too sure if I was supposed to give my sob story or make it seem more nonchalant. Why should they care anyway?

Cam cleared his throat, noticing my reluctance. "You don't have to tell us Scout, just so you know." 

Peter scoffed. "Yes, she does! Who knows what dark past she has!"

I glared at Peter for what seemed like the millionth time. I decided my story didn't have to be sad, or happy, just merely neutral. "Well...have any of you heard of the author Aaron S. Sagon?" I asked. 

It took a second for everyone to comprehend the question, it seeming to have come out of left field.  

"He writes fantasy fiction mostly, but also some horror," I tried again. 

Jesse shook his head and pursed his lips. "I don't read, so..."

"Oh, that guy. I think his work is obnoxious." Of course, Peter would think something was obnoxious. "But he has good reviews for a reason, I guess."

"Yeah, well, his recent series of books is the reason I'm here." Everyone seemed to be scratching their heads mentally. "He's my dad."

"Oh!" Cam and Sydney said in unison.

"He uses a pen name because he wanted to remain low-key when we were living in Smithers. His real name is Aaron Scott Sattler."

"Ah..." Cam and Sydney continued.

"Nifty." Jesse grinned. "So, you're like, banished here while he's on some sort of tour?"

"But like," Cam also began, "why were your brothers here while you were in uhm...Smithers?"

Sydney raised her arms. "I'm sure she doesn't want to get into it."

"She can speak for herself," Peter retorted.

"I actually should go, I have to unpack still, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sedona has thrown out all of my clothes."

Before anyone could protest, I was out the door.

I did actually need to unpack still, and I actually wouldn't be surprised if Sedona had thrown out my clothes, but mostly I just wanted out of the room. It had begun to feel a little claustrophobic in there, and the questions were getting personal, which was something I didn't want to face just yet.