Lydia: “I was _really_ looking forward to the bonfire on Friday, but _guess_ where I get to go instead?” Lydia’s dorm mate, Charlotte, asked her with an extra emphasis on the word “guess.” Lydia shrugged because she didn’t really want to play the “where in the world does Charlotte get to go this time?” game. Her dorm mate frowned just enough to force the tiniest crease into the flawless skin on her forehead. Although she disliked how nasty it was of her, Lydia seemed to delight in any imperfections that appeared on Charlotte’s face. She would never admit it out loud though. “Paris!” Charlotte squealed. “For a fashion show. Daddy called the office to excuse me from class Friday. We’re leaving tomorrow afternoon and coming back Sunday morning. Can you believe that? Just one day in France!” Lydia smiled politely. She didn’t really care that much, but Charlotte was one of her only friends at Northwood. If she could even call her that since the only times she seemed to see Charlotte were in the morning and before bed. It was a rare occurrence for her to be studying in the library with Lydia. Charlotte took a huge bite out of an apple, and Lydia thought to herself, No food in the library… But then again, she had a snack of her own. A small can of almonds she had saved from the cafeteria the day before. They were her favorite and she concealed them between her book bag and a large textbook on the table in front of her. “Oh, look at that girl over there…” Charlotte stared right behind Lydia. She turned in her seat and saw a strange looking girl with black hair standing up from the spot she was in. Lydia turned back to Charlotte who had a scowl on her face. “What’s her name again? Starts with a Z I think. She’s creepy. Looks like Dracula.” Charlotte whispered. Lydia shrugged half-heartedly, not wanting to say anything. She didn’t like it when she talked about “creepy” and “weird” people. Lydia hardly ever said anything about it, only putting her foot down the year before when Charlotte accused a boy she didn’t even know of kidnapping Helen. She had told Charlotte how cruel she was for accusing the boy, some freshman, of hurting some poor girl just for the thrill of starting a rumor. She was ignored for at least three days after that. Before Charlotte could say anything else, a girl Lydia knew from her dorm, Wells Hall, passed by. Lydia was too shy to say hello, and Charlotte was too snotty to acknowledge her existence and so she passed by while Lydia put her head down. ---------------- Max: Max was in his English class when the Madame Geroux made the daily announcements. They were late, but he didn’t care. The teacher had stopped talking and kept shushing students who were chatting while the headmaster spoke over the intercom. Max himself tuned in and out for the things that actually applied to him. He wasn’t looking forward to the track practice tomorrow morning. His legs were already killing him from yesterday morning’s practice. For some reason it was taking him longer than usual to get back into the groove of long distance running. Maybe it was the lack of sleep from all the nightmares he was having. Max saw Helen everywhere. Not as ghost, not like the badly burnt girl sitting in the desk next to him who had been staring at him intently every day since the semester began. More like a hallucination. He never really knew her, but he had had a crush on her when she was alive. It was something he would never admit but she was so pretty that Max couldn’t ignore her. And it affected him in a way he didn’t think it would when the news that she had been found dead by the lake spread around the school like wildfire. Despite not knowing her, he kept having nightmares about her death. A masked man slicing her open before carving words into her skin...it horrified him. Max heard the news about the bonfire, but he wasn’t looking forward to it. He didn’t like being around so many people. He would have to see if Lydia, a family friend, was going to go with her friends. Otherwise, he was probably going to find somewhere else to be.