Becca huddled under the awning over the cafeteria doors, shivering as the wind whipped at her hair and skirt. It was one of those cold march mornings when spring hadn't quite pushed winter out.
She'd left her room early to escape her new room mate Jenna York. The girl was driving her crazy. She'd been there for all of twelve hours, and had already almost completely monopolized the room. There was so much pink that it looked like a peptobismal bottle had exploded. To top it all off, Jenna had a severe princess complex, and explected to always have her way.
The first bell of the day rang to signal the beginning of breakfast. People began streaming into the court yard out side of the cafeteria. Minutes passed, and Becca began to wonder if Chris would show.
She'd just given up hoping when someone touched her arm. She turned and found herself looking right into chris's vivid blue eyes.
"Oh, hi."
He smiled, "Hi there, Pretty Lady. How are you?"
"I'm fine. I just had a long night with the newroom mate."
"Room mate?"
"Yeah. Jenna York. She just moved in last night from some school in Europe, somewhere. She's a night mare."
"Oh. I know all about Jenna."
Becca blinked, "You do?"
Chris grimaced, "Yeah, she went here last year, then went to.... Uh, France?... Maybe. I don't know for sure, for some foreign exchange program. We were kind of a thing for a little while, but we broke up at the and of the year, and believe me, I've never been happier about anything in my life."
"Really? Why?"
He scowled, " Because she's queen of the clones, and has the worst case of the give-me's ever. She even expected me to kow-tow to her."
"Wonderful," Becca groaned, "the rest of this year should be fun."
Chris laughed, "Loads, probobly, but its no good worrying about it before breakfast. Come on let's go eat."
They got their breakfast and found a table.
"Where's Terry," Becca asked.
"Sick," Chris said around a mouth full of waffles. He swallowed. "He woke up with a fever."
"Aw, that's no fun."
"Yeah, he's been sick off and on ever since he moved here. Enough of that though. I want to know about you."
"Not much to tell, really. I'm originally from Maryland. I love to read, write, paint, draw, dance, I play violin, and I'm a black belt in karate. That's pretty much it." Becca took a breath, realizing she'd spit it all out with out pausing for air. "So what about you?"
Chris laughed, "I'm no where near as interesting as you are, I mean, violin and Karate? Anyway, I'm just, well, me. Pretty boring. You probably don't know much about the school, do you?"
Becca smiled, "Diversion noted, but no, I don't. I hear it has a pretty interesting history, though."
"You could say that. It's mainly the two biggest secrets this place has that you really want to know about."
"Secrets?"
Chris nodded, "Yep. One old, one new."
"Go on," Becca prompted.
"Well," Chris said slowly, "I'll start with the old one, then. There's really not much to it. There was a pretty young lady teacher, a younger male assistant, and the very first head master of the school. The lady teacher and the assistant were sort of an item, the much older head master wanted her, and because he couldn't have her, murdered them both in the top floor of North Hall. That's why it's closed and locked. The school doesn't broadcast that there were two murders here because, even now, two hundred years later, that's pretty scandalous."
"So how do you know," Becca wondered.
"Library. That's one thing you and I have in common. I enjoy reading too."
"Ah. That makes sense," Becca nodded. "You said there were two secrets. What's the other one?"
Chris took a deep breath, and letting it out slowly, said, "The new one... That one is a little harder for me to talk about."
"Why?" Becca's stomach clenched, and she suddenly wasn't too sure if she really wanted to know.
"Because, it's about my former room mate," his voice choked, "and, my best friend."
As much as she wanted to know, Becca also didn't want to push it if it upset him too much.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said softly. "I mean, if it's none of my business..."
"No, no," Chris raked a hand through his black curls. "I just forget how much I still miss him."
"What happened to him?"
Chris avoided her eyes as he spoke. "He disappeared, back in January. Just poof, gone. No one knows where or how. They searched the grounds, but they won't notify the authorities so a real search can start, and as far as I know, they haven't even told his parents."
Becca dropped her fork and stared at him, "but that's illegal! What are they going to tell them when he doesn't come home?"
Chris shrugged, "I don't know."
The bell rang then, cutting the conversation short, and the two of them rose to head to their classes.
"Where are you headed?"
"English, Mrs. Bartley's class." Becca hitched her bag onto her shoulder. "You?"
"Algebra," Chris pulled a face, then grinned. "Come on, I'll walk you to class."
