Kellin's POV

It's finally here; freedom! Sure, it wasn't true freedom, but it was the closest that I was going to get. I drove my SUV full to the brim with all of my belongings into the parking lot of the apartment complex followed closely by Adrian. Once I find two spots next to each other I pull into one and wait for Adrian to pull into the other before getting out. I take my paperwork out of my bag and press the lock.

"Dude," Adrian shook his head. "There are so many idiots. I swear I almost ran a couple of them over."

"Yeah, there are far too many people." I agree. I may be a prince of sorts, but I've always been on the introverted side. I would prefer staying inside or being out by myself rather than surrounded by people. Adrian was the complete opposite. He fed off the energy of crowds.

"But, damn, some of them are fine." Adrian watches a blue-haired girl walk by in a deep conversation with a nerdy-looking boy. I wouldn't be surprised if the day ended with him getting her number if not more.

"True," I say out of habit just as my world is stopped on its axis. "Beautiful," I whisper in reverence as my gaze falls upon the most perfect person I've ever seen. His hair is dark at the roots with bright pink on the ends where it is spiked up in a Mohawk of sorts. A long earring dangles from his left ear and a small, unmatched one is in the other. His dark skin is mesmerizing; smoother than anything I've ever seen before. His sparkling eyes are surrounded by black lines and silver swirls. The makeup would look bizarre on anyone else, but on him, it's perfect. I flinch as light reflects off his silver shirt. He winks and turns away so I can watch him walk away in those too-tight black pants.

"Kellin, come on," Adrian grabs my arm and pulls me to the stairs of the main office so we can check-in. "I really hope our roommate doesn't suck. I don't get why you chose a three-person apartment. We could have gotten a two-person, I'm sure."

"It was all that was available. Plus, I wanted to come to school to meet new people right?" I ask as I continue to watch Mr. Perfect walk away from view. Instantly, when I lose him I feel like I'm missing something crucial. This is a problem; a big problem.

"It would be great if it was a girl right?" Adrian wiggled his eyebrows. "I call her unless she's not my type."

"Do you even have a type?" I chuckle. "I feel like as long as she's a girl you'd be into her. I shove him lightly.

"Hey!" Adrian shoves me back. "Well, kind of. But that just means I'm a great guy. No judging."

"It means you're a manwhore." I tease him while holding my thumb and pointer finger a centimeter apart. "Just a tiny bit. Like a bit of a manwhore."

"Just because I'm not a snail-like you, doesn't mean I'm too active." Adrian steps up in line and hits me. "Hey, look, that girl keeps checking me out."

"Shocking," I roll my eyes. Adrian is far too attractive for his own good. Even with the scar on his cheek, he's one of the most attractive people I know. His golden hair and green eyes make him irresistible to the fairer sex. I even couldn't turn away from him when he was changing even with him not being my type. I didn't even think I had a type until I saw Mr. Perfect.

"Ah, actually she's checking you out." Adrian pushes me in front of him so I can see the girl in question. I groan internally. I had hoped for at least a little break from all the lies, especially the one of me being straight, but I had been stupid to think that. This was part of why I was here according to the Beasts of Promise. I needed to find a girl and bring her home to take my rightful place.

"Nice." Adrian nods his head. "She's digging those looks you're giving her."

"What?" I make eye contact with the girl and wink like I know Adrian would expect me to. I wish that I could trust Adrian enough to tell him the truth but I can't and probably never will be able to.

"Ask her out," Adrian demands as we step up to the desk she's sitting behind.

"Ask who out?" She purrs up at us, eyes only for me. I feel sick.

"You," Adrian says because I'm silent. "He wants to ask you out. Here's his number." Adrian scribbles my number down then kicks me for still not saying anything. We both know I'm terrible at these things especially when all I want to chase after Mr. Perfect.

"Sorry about my friend. He's a bit of an idiot and shy when talking to cute girls." He points out as if she couldn't already tell and they both laugh at my expense. "I'm Adrian and the guy drooling over you is Kellin."

"Lydia." She extends her hand I shake it out of habit. "How about we go get some ice cream tonight? There's a great place within walking distance and a park we can walk around."

"Sounds great. He loves ice cream." Adrian rolls his eyes at me. "How about 7:00?"

"You're not coming are you?" She teasingly asks Adrian.

"No, he'll be all yours," Jace assures her and kicks me again finally knocking me out of my mind.

"It'll be just you and me." I wink at her like Adrian does when he's flirting. "Sorry about the awkwardness."

"I think it's cute." She slides her fingers over mine once again and I force myself to not cringe. This is my life, I better get used to it. I smile at her and walk away.

"Great," I hiss as we walk down the stairs.

"Nice!" Jace high-fives me. "I'm jealous, but I mean the sooner you find a girl, the sooner we get out of this hell hole."

"Girl or not I want to stay here." I remind him, leaving out the fact that according to my dad we'll be here for some time.

"I know, but I can hope."

"Let's go find our apartment." I lead the way after reading that it's number 24. I see the guy from before and forget what I'm looking for. I walk towards him and Adrian follows close behind. The guy disappears around a corner and I shake myself free from his spell. "24."

"Right there." Adrian points it out. It's to the right of where the guy disappeared. "Come on."

Adrian tries the doorknob and growls when he finds it unlocked. "I'll go first."

"It's nothing. I bet the other guy is just moving in." I complain. "Either way, Adrian, I'm an adult and can take care of myself."

"Stay." He demands and I do just that as he goes inside, his hand in his pocket where I know he keeps one of his many knives. He comes back in less than a minute. "It's clear."

"No shit." I shove past him and walk inside just as someone bumps into me from behind. I whirl around with my fist out and drop it instantly. "Hey."

"It's you." The pink-haired guy drops a box and holds out his hand. "Jude."

I don't move; I can't move. Adrian cocks an eyebrow at me and still I stay frozen. He pushes me out of the way and shakes Jude's hand. "I'm Adrian and this is Kellin."

"Kellin," He says under his breath and I snap out of it.

"Yeah. Hi. Hey. Come in." I move too quickly to get out of his way and step on Adrian's foot. He curses and shoves me.

"Chill," He demands. "Sorry about him. He just got a cute girl's number and he's not great at social interactions in general."

"I see." Jude's eyes follow me for a moment and then he picks his box up again. "Well, I'm glad that you're both here because I figured I wouldn't be a complete ass by stealing a room without letting you see them all first."

"Thanks." Adrian walks further inside and we follow him down the hallway. There is one room right inside the hallway, the bathroom, and then two rooms on either side of the hallway at the end facing each other. The apartment is tiny, but it'll be big enough for just the three of us.

"Kellin and I can take the ones closer to each other." Adrian offers and I know it's because he plans to stay as close as possible to me, especially with Jude around.

"Or you could take the other one." Jude offers and I see the annoyance on Adrian's face. He's not used to people questioning him. I'm curious. Why does he want to be in the room next to me? "I don't want to assume but seem like the kind of guy who will have guests over more often."

I burst out laughing. "It's true." I smack Adrian on the shoulder to stop him from getting angry. If we're going to survive in the real world we have to act normal. "We were just talking about that."

"You're the one who already has the date." Adrian points out and I feel like I've been hit by a truck. For a moment, with Jude here I had forgotten that my life wasn't my own.

"Oh really?" Jude seems highly interested. "The phone number girl?"

"Yeah." I nod and wish that I could tell him it was all a lie. I could be assuming wrongly but Jude definitely comes off as being gay or at least open to different types of relationships. And I can't help wanting to test that out. There is a flicker of something in Jude's eyes that I can't read. "Adrian, you really should take that room. You will be having football practice and you snore."

"A snorer!" Jude claps his hands. "No. Way. I'm. Sleeping. Near. You."

Adrian doesn't hide the fact that he wants to argue with me, of course, Jude is completely unaware as he takes his box to one of the rooms down the hall. "Just let it go," I tell him and he nods his head but I know this isn't looking good. I should have just gone with his idea.

"I've been trying to figure out how to move all of our stuff in and I really don't want to do it all or end up getting in each other's ways so what do you think about helping each other?" Jude asks as he walks back into the living room.

"That's a great idea," I answer for us both.