(Iris)

Cilan was still quite shocked as we headed out to prepare for the contest. The deadline for the writing was the end of the month, but we wouldn't know the details and specifics until next week, so we had time to think over any possibilities.

"You know, Clemont left at the end of our first year at highschool" I reflected, speaking aloud. Cilan turned to me, interested.

"Yeah, what about it?" He said, raising an eyebrow in a questionable way.

"Well, he never contacted us afterwards" I continued, trying to make him see the point.

"And?" Cilan replied. I swear he had never been so dense.

"Don't you find it a little...strange?" I paused for a moment, letting him think it through.

"Come to think of it, he never did actually contact anyone. We only spoke to him briefly every now and then during the first year, maybe he resents us for doing so?" Cilan hypothesised. It made sense, but we was going to find out either way.

"We should try and meet with him and find out" I shrugged, just throwing it out there as a suggestion.

"Ok, I'll go ask for his dorm number and we will go see him right away" Cilan didn't even contemplate any other suggestions, he rushed off to the front desk to gain some information.

"Excuse me?" Cilan asked, propping his hands on the desk. The receptionist put the phone down and span round to us, tapping her fingernails on the desk.

"Hmm? What can I do for our freshman students this afternoon?" She asked, leaning over the desk slightly. This receptionist seemed a little provocative, it kind of creeped me out. I took a step back and let Cilan handle the talking. He turned to me taking a step back, but then turned back with the questions in his head.

"Can I have the dorm number for another freshmen, Clemont I believe" He asked, briefly looking my way. I frowned and mouthed 'where are your manners?' and he just looked away again.

"His dorm is on the top floor, number 483" The receptionist looked up from her computer and smiled. "Is that all?"

"It is, thanks for you help" Cilan pivoted on his right foot and took long strides towards the boys dorm.

"Girls are allowed in her, right?" I had to ask, feeling worried that I was breaking the rules.

"Sure, who cares if you aren't? Just come on" Cilan urged as we ran up the flight of stairs. There was quite a few stairs to climb, which was surprising.

"483...483" I murmured as we checked the room numbers. Cilan knocked on the door behind me and I turned around. How did I just wander past the room like that?

"Hello?" I voice we both recognized said. Cilan didn't even answer back, he just swung the door open and we walked in. "He-Wh-" Clemont instantly stuttered, closing the book he was reading. He readjusted his specs and smiled.

"It's been four years now" I said, with a brief smile. Clemont nodded, while Cilan looked out of his window.

"You must feel unlucky" Cilan turned around again, with a serious face.

"Huh?" Clemont inquired, wondering why Cilan looked so hostile.

"Cilan are yo-" I began, but he took a step forward, so I stopped. He moved over to Clemont, who was just as worried as I was.

Cilan suddenly threw his hand onto Clemont's shoulder and a big smile appeared across his face. "Having to walk up those stairs in your condition must be a pain"

I relaxed and Clemont sighed of relief and then briefly laughed.

"I'm used to all that now, it's been four years after all" Clemont sat back down and then looked at me. "How come you guys are here?"

"Well, we are attending the college" Cilan spoke for me, but there was another reason.

"We was going to talk to you about the writing contest" I explained. Clemont's expression changed. He adjusted his glasses once more and then smiled.

"Well, I don't know how I won last year myself. I secretly entered, pretending to be a college student because I needed some more experience on writing up scientific reports. I just wrote about my own creations and how they could benefit the future and I won" He shrugged, acting as if it was nothing.

"You beat scientific experts in the competition though, that is amazing" Cilan pointed out, but Clemont wasn't so sure.

"They wasn't that good, I won by quite a large margin"

"In any case, this year will be different" I said, clenching a fist in determination "I will win this year!"

Cilan and Clemont looked just as determined and they shook their heads simultaneously.

"No, I will be victorious!" They even spoke simultaneously, looking at each other with puzzling expressions. They burst into brief laughter, before straightening up.

"I can see you have changed a lot Clemont, how was highschool?" Cilan wondered.

"Yeah, I want to know too" I added, sitting down with the guys.

"It was great. I got the highest grades in the schools history and scored 100% on every science exam"

No surprise there.

"What about you guys?" He asked, blocking off my thoughts"

"Oh erm, I got the second highest grades and Cilan was picked for valedictorian because of his outstanding performances"

Cilan seemed to blush for a moment, looking away.

"You're embarrassing me Iris, I only got 100% on two exams"

"Two?!" Clemont was impressed, jumping out of his seat. "You must have worked hard"

"Mhm" Cilan nodded, before checking his watch. "It's getting a little late and I have class orientation in thirty minutes"

"Erm, we all do" I pointed out, making Cilan feel stupid. He looked as if he was about to collapse, so I slapped him on the back. "Come on then"

He stood up and straightened up, following Clemont out of the room, I walked out and shut the door, while Clemont locked it.

One Week Later

Clemont walked out of the info booth with a load of paper. He split them into three piles and handed us the information sheets.

"Seems like the topic is sport this year" Clemont moaned, collapsing onto a bench.

"Great!" I said in unison with Cilan. We both loved running and I already knew it was going to be my topic.

"Looks like you two are happy" Clemont said analytically, adjusting his glasses. "I can't stand sport"

"We already figured that out when we met you" I laughed, reminiscing about the past.

"That's true" Clemont joined in with the laughter. "What are you going to write about then?"

"That's a secret" I said, not wanting to give him ideas.

"Same here. I don't want you copying me" Cilan was a little more defensive, but Clemont shook his head.

"I already have my topic. How science can help sport" He said, adjusting his glasses.

"So you still have a chance, I see" Damn it, he got us. Science was a topic that Clemont could never lose in and mixing into sport made it worse.

"You might want to read over the rules, just to be sure you can mix up topics like that" Cilan began flicking through the pages, checking each bit of information for a greater understanding.

"I have done this before, remember?"

"Oh yeah, my bad" Cilan frowned to himself and then continued to read. "So, we have three weeks until the deadline, huh?"

"Seems so, last year we got 4 weeks, so this will be tough" Clemont paused for a moment and then shoved the paper in his bag. "I better get to work then, see you all later"

"See you later, Clemont" I said with a smile, sitting in his empty space next to Cilan.

"Glad to see an old friend, huh?" Cilan asked me as he threw the papers into his own bag.

I nodded and then looked up to the darkening sky, it was getting a little late.

"So am I" He admitted, following my gaze. "It is good to know we have friends in this college that we can rely on"

"We can get Clemont involved in our meet up come new years" I suggested. Cilan's face suddenly lit up and he looked like he was going to kiss me.

"You're a genius! I could kiss you right here and now!" He exclaimed, jumping off the bench.

"Please don't" I frowned, moving away from him a little.

"It's a figure of speech, calm down. I will ask Clemont tomorrow if he wants to meet the gang again" He said, nodding to his own thoughts aswell.

"Ok then. I am going to go work on my writing, so I will see you tomorrow" I said, waving to Cilan. He waved back and then turned towards the boys dorm. I headed in the opposite direction. I was glad to have a continuing friendship with Cilan, although it felt like it could be more. We was always close friends since kindergarten and always joked around like that with eachother, but now that I am 18, it makes me feel nervous and my heart rate increases. I don't think I would ever see us dating, though. I had other people I was interested in, not one of my best friends. I shook my head, shaking the thoughts out. Stop acting like a braindead idiot. I am not Gary for gods sake, I have a mind. I laughed at my Gary insult, some people giving me weird looks, because I didn't even say anything. I quickened my pace and headed to my dorm to work on my report.

2 Weeks Later

Cilan came out of the ice cream parlour, holding two ice creams. He handed one to me and we headed back to the college at a slow pace.

"One more week until the contest is over" Cilan said between licks of his ice cream.

"Oh yeah" A light bulb flashed over my head. "I had a new idea to implement into my story and completely forgot until now, thanks for reminding me"

"Oh, no problem"

"Anyway, do you think any of us could win?" I asked, thinking over our odds.

"It's possible, but I think Clemont will be the favourite this year, especially after his report last year" Cilan thought it over and then nodded.

"I think so too, but we just have to keep trying. How many pages have you done?" I asked. I had only done 12 for now, so I wanted to see how much work Cilan has done.

"Not too many" Was all he said. I pressed for more details.

"Specifics, please" I frowned in annoyance.

"25" His words felt like a bullet. I froze for a moment, nearly dropping my ice cream.

"25?! NOT TOO MANY?!" I blurted out. "I need to go work then!" I rushed off, leaving Cilan, who I assume was staring blankly at me running off. I ran straight to my dorm to do work. I needed more quality pages of work and facts, pictures, ANYTHING.

Time to panic.

One Month Later (Third-Person POV)

"Every candidate has made a very good report" One of the judges said, flicking through each one. "These three especially caught my eye"

"Three freshmen, one of them one last year" The head judge nodded in agreement "I agree"

"So it is settled, three winners then?" The other judged asked, the head judge nodding once more.

"That concludes the vote, we have decided on three winners. Clemont, Iris and Cilan, three freshmen students!"

"They certainly have a bright future ahead of them" One of the judges smiled with confidence. "I expect great things from them this year"