Finals were a nightmare.

I mean, finals first semester were rough, but second semester, they were just outright terrible. I stayed awake all night nearly every night for a week. In just nine days, I was running on a total of about seventy-two hours of sleep. I was a wreck.

But I made it.

Abbey, Lance, Trey and I sat exhausted and zombie-like in the student lounge of the Rossi dormitory building. We were silent, our heads hanging back against the comfortable suede couches.

"I feel like dying," Abbey said, her voice groggy from lack of sleep.

"I feel like all the caffeine that I drank these past few days is going to come back and give me a heart attack," Lance said.

"You guys only drank coffee. I straight up chugged energy drinks," I said.

"We're all probably going to explode," Abbey said.

"Well, at least it's over now," Trey said.

"Until next year," Lance mumbled.

"Let's not think about that just yet," Trey said.

Abbey sat up suddenly, holding her head from the sudden head rush.

"Guys," she said. We glanced at her. "We're sophomores now," she said, a smile forming on her face.

"Merlin, we got through a year of university magic," Lance said thoughtfully.

"You mean we got through a year of university magic alive," Trey corrected.

"I feel like I'm more knowledgeable now," Lance said.

"I can't wait until next year when the new freshman come in," Abbey said.

"Why?" I asked.

"That way we're not the youngest anymore," she answered with a shrug. We all chuckled. I pushed myself up off the couch.

"Where are you going?" Trey asked.

"I don't know about you all, but I'm dead tired and I need some sleep right now or else I literally will die of exhaustion," I said.

"Taking a nap sounds like a really good idea right now," Abbey said.

"A nap? Screw that. I'm not waking up until we have to leave tomorrow," I said.

"We still have to pack our stuff, though!" Abbey exclaimed.

"Damn, we still have to do that, too," Lance muttered, glancing at Trey.

"It's kind of stupid that they would make us move out the day after finals. How are we supposed to get everything together by then?" Trey asked.

"I'm pretty sure that's how regular universities do it, too," I said.

"They should give us more time," Abbey said.

"Why? We can use magic. Just spell everything into packing itself," I said.

"That's actually a good idea," Lance said.

"You resort to using magic every chance you get," Abbey remarked.

"Well, I don't see why not. We can use magic now. We know the spells. What's the point in letting it go to waste?" I asked.

"You might get too relient on it and forget and accidentally use it in front of Magia Non," Lance pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

Although I disagreed with the all force necessary bit of Elijah's interpretation of the Trinity of Magic, I did agree with one part: that we couldn't hide our magic forever. If we were the more powerful beings, why were we the ones in hiding? It should have been reversed. Or else, we should learn to live in peaceful communion with one another. I just didn't like the fact that I was a witch, but I couldn't use my magic in public unless it was a public place that used magic like school. It was almost like a power gone to waste; a useless skill to have.

"I think I can be careful," I said, yawning. "Ok, I'm off to bed. See you guys tomorrow," I said.

"I think I'll join you," Trey said, also getting up.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure you're not going to get any. She's too tired," Lance said. Trey reached over and smacked him upside the head, causing Lance to scowl at him. "What?!" he exclaimed.

"You're a pig," I said, giving him a look.

"I was just--" he started.

"Oh, shut up," Abbey said, cutting him off and rolling her eyes. "I think we should all take a nap and then reconverge to pack our rooms up," she said.

"Sounds like a plan," I said, pulling Trey's arm towards the exit. I was falling asleep as I was standing and I desperately wanted to go crawl into bed. We waved good-bye to Abbey and Lance and then walked up two flights of stairs to my room. Without taking even my shoes off, I fell into my bed face first. Trey chuckled at me.

"At least take your shoes off," he said.

"I'm too tired," I mumbled, my voice muffled by the mattress.

"Either that or you're too lazy," he said, taking a hold of my shoes and pulling them off for me. I wiggled my toes after they were free and turned over. Trey climbed into my bed next to me and pulled me close to him. I snuggled into his chest and breathed in his scent, feeling a sense of serenity fall over me.

"Can you close the blinds?" I asked him sleepily, my eyes already closed. I heard him mutter a spell and the room darkened. He then settled into the pillows and pulled me even closer to him, kissing the top of my head. In almost no time, sleep washed over me and I fell into the confusion that my mind always held these days.

After Gerrard and I had found those maps in Mikael's room two weeks ago, all I could think about was where the wise old man had disappeared off to. I hadn't been able to get a close look at them because I had finals to study for, but now that school was over, I would have more than enough time to theorize. Gerrard and I had already made plans to meet at the end of the week after I had moved out and was settled back into my father's apartment in New York. We were going to try and decipher the maps that Mikael left behind. One thing that we both were sure of was that Mikael hadn't left those maps by accident. He wanted someone to find them, and we were almost certain that someone was me.

I knew my summer would be a busy one. Between hanging out with Abbey, Trey, and Lance and training at Elijah's mansion, I was going to have to manage my time so that I would be able to figure out my plan for next year. I still needed to pick where I would be studying abroad, although, by glancing at the maps, I knew I wouldn't be able to pick just one destination. I was going to have to sit down with Gerrard and come up with a plan and then talk to my father about what my choices would be. The hard parts would be last: telling Abbey I wasn't going to be rooming with her in the coming year and then saying good-bye to Trey.

I hated to admit it, but every time Abbey talked about being sophomores together next year and living together again in the updated and much cooler upper-classman apartments on campus, I felt a pang of guilt. Often, Trey would look at me, telling me silently to tell her that I wasn't going to be able to share her excitement. But I didn't have the heart to disappoint her. I was going to wait until after we had a fun-filled summer and then break the news to her before school started and before I had to leave.

Trey had come to accept that I wasn't going to change my mind about studying abroad. As much as it hurt to know that I would be away from him for a year, I knew that in the long run, it would be what was best for us. Because in reality, there would be no 'us' if I didn't figure out how to reverse the curse put on my family line. I couldn't stand to think that Trey could potentially be hurt because of the terrible fate that lay ahead for me. I had to find the counter. I had to save us.

Besides those problems, I still had the problem of telling Elijah that I would be gone for the next year and would not be able to serve my purpose as spy. I knew he would be angry with me and that was mostly the reason why I was prolonging telling him. I figured if he got too angry, I would simply tell him that I had managed to imprison one of the men he hated most: Peter Long.

Elijah honestly didn't really need me anymore, anyway. We all knew that Isaac was going to win the up-coming elections. There was no way that John Blackwood would be able to serve for two terms. He was greatly disliked, even amongst the people that weren't faithful to Elijah. Isaac appealed to many more people and a victory for our side was certain. And once Isaac had full control of the Government, Elijah would have the ability to do whatever he wished to do.

I would remain active on both sides--Elijah's and the Order's--but at the end of the summer, my double-agent status would be put on hold. I had more important things to take care of, and dealing with the two feuding sides wasn't going to help me in any way.

                                                                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                                        Trey's POV

I woke up about six hours later to a room immersed in darkness. Outside, the sun had set and night had fallen. Caley was still sleeping peacefully next to me, snuggled into the crook of my arm. I smiled and her and kissed the top of her head. Her lips twitched in a smile as she slept and I wondered what she was dreaming about.

I sighed silently and gazed up at the beige-creme ceiling. I had about three months with Caley before she would go abroad for the next year. I had no idea what I would do without her. Being around Abbey and Lance would become tiresome very quickly, I was sure of it. And now Jason and Samantha were also dating, so I wouldn't be able to hang around them, either. If I didn't dislike Matt so greatly, I would just hang out with him and Oralie. I like Oralie. She was interesting and always had a story to tell. It was too bad that Matt went everywhere she did.

Maybe it was a good thing Caley was leaving. Maybe we needed some time away from each other. Although, I didn't see too much of her on campus anyway, we still lived on the same campus and had several classes together. Maybe if she went away, it would help me appreciate her more. Even though I already did appreciate her.

Regardless, with Caley being away, I would be able to focus more of my attention on training. I would have more time to increase my magical abilities and become the leader that Dean Lucia expected me to be. With Caley gone, I wouldn't have to plan my schedule so that I could include spending time with her, too. I would be able to devote all of my spare time to training.

I looked at the beautiful sleeping girl next to me. There was no doubt about it; I was definitely going to miss her. But I knew she was completely set on going abroad. She didn't want to stay here, surrounded by the people she saw everyday. Although she kept telling me that the reason she wanted to go abroad was because she was interested in ancient, foreign magic, I knew there was something more. She had read something in her mother's letter because ever since she had, she seemed like a changed person.

It seemed to me that ever since she had read the letter, she went back to the distant and closed-off Caley I had first met at Trinity High. I could no longer read her expressions or her eyes. She always had a distant, far-away look in her eyes that was unreadable. One thing was certain, though, and that was that she was always thinking.

Whenver we had conversations, Caley would often times zone out with a blank look on her face, chewing her lip or furrowing her brow. There were thoughts that were constantly flitting through her mind and I wanted desperately to be able to read them. But she was closed off. The walls in her mind were always up and she was forever guarded. On the one hand, it saddened me that she wouldn't talk to me about whatever she was going through. But on the other, it had taken her over a year to tell me about her mother's death. It wasn't in Caley's nature to be so open about her problems. She wasn't Abbey; she didn't display her emotions and problems to the world.

I sighed.

I guess I just had to be patient. Whatever it was that was bothering her, she would tell me eventually. I just hoped it was sooner rather than later.

                                                              End of Trey's POV

________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Sort of a filler chapter. I wanted this to be a reflection kind of chapter so that you know what's going on in the main characters' minds. I promise the next chapter will be more interesting. Caley and Gerrard will deliberate about the maps that they found and we'll find out what the plan for the upcoming year will be.

A note on when I will update...this is going to be long...

Most of you know that I will randomly update chapters of this story whenever I have time. I appreciate those of you who aren't leaving me nagging comments on updating quickly. But to those of you that consistently send me messages or leave me comments telling me to update, this message is for you:

I am a pre-med student and this year is a crucial one for me. All of my focus and attention is on the best future for me. Writing this story is a leisurely activity for me; I don't live to update my stories. If my future plans were to become a professional writer, then I would place more importance on updating. But those aren't my plans. My plans are to get into medical school and become a doctor. So I would really appreciate it if you stopped asking me when I'm going to update because I won't have an answer. I will update when I have time.

Also, if you aren't going to vote on any chapters, you definitely CANNOT tell me to update. If you show no active support for my work, then I'm not going to give any attention to your requests. I understand if you actively vote or leave me other comments. But if you don't even take the time to vote, then I don't care what you ask me to do. My real fans are the ones that support me by voting/commenting and understanding that I'm a busy person. They aren't selfish. They understand.

That being said, sometimes my schedule will clear up enough to give me a few hours to write. When that happens, I will update. So feel free to check back every week or so to see if a new chapter was posted. I can tell you for certain right now that I won't have another chapter up for about two weeks since I have mid-terms. Maybe after that I'll get another chapter in.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate the support. Sorry for the rant. I'll update when I can.

Comment/vote. You know what to do. I'd like to read what you guys think will happen in the rest of the book.

XOXO