Alternatively

The Origin of the Star Boy Protection Squad

      He eased the door shut, patting his pocket to be sure his key was still there before shuffling down the hall. The old wooden floor creaked, but so did the rest of the building, so it was pointless to worry about it. Desaturated shadows flickered over walls and closed doors, lights mismatched and bulbs in various stages of clouding over or burning out completely.

Something thudded behind one of the doors and he froze, pressed against a dusty portrait of one of the school founders. He waited with bated breath to be sure no one was going to bust into the corridor and get them both caught. Technically, the curfew was only highly recommended, but it seemed that whenever he was caught doing anything, it went on his record. The smart thing to do would be staying in bed, get some sleep so he could go to class without any bags under his eyes for once.

But it didn't feel smart when the ceiling pressed him into the mattress and the sheets tangled around his neck and everything was too hot, way too hot, and he couldn't lay still.

After a few seconds, he quietly walked towards the stairs and through the foyer, shoving his ear buds in as he pushed into the late autumn night. Goosebumps painfully blossomed down his back and he clenched his jaw, wandering aimlessly away from the dorms and into the dark.

Sleep hadn't been easy, not since the acceptance letter arrived in the mail all those months ago. He had been to boarding schools before - several, in fact - and at each one, he knew things would be okay. That he could go home on breaks, that his mom would always answer the phone on the second ring, that she would talk to him for as long as he needed and always said how proud she was for doing his best.

And he always did his best, did what he could to stay out of trouble and kept his grades at C level.

But things sort of...fell apart.

He sucked in a deep, tooth aching breath, focusing on the air freezing it's way down his throat and swelling in his lungs. Bare trees shivered above him and the sparse lamps lining the sidewalks coldly haloed five feet at a time. He never planned his midnight strolls, but halfway through the semester, he realized he shouldn't be surprised to end up at the pond.

Stuffing his hands into his hoodie, Percy trekked down the path, ignoring the figure already huddled at the water's edge.

     A splash startled her back to reality and she squinted as another person wandered down the slope. It was whatever when the girl suddenly appeared on the shore, she was far enough away from the bench and didn't pose a problem. This guy, on the other hand, he skidded on a patch of dewy grass and his scramble sent rocks raining into the pond and really threw her off her groove.

He quickly righted himself and resigned to the other side of the pond, shoulders hunched and otherwise quiet as he glanced around. He didn't seem to notice she was there, which was fine by her. Why the muddy pond was suddenly a night time attraction, she didn't know; she did know she had been there first. She was on that bench to watch the clouds burn from pink to gold before frosting over as the stars twinkled into view, stars she started to count. She had been on that bench as the wind got sharper and the smell of snow tinged every gust, her back pack under her head as she stared at the sky.

It was a new moon.

No moon, no light; it made for a featureless night, shadows layered on shadows across campus. Every so often, she had caught the weak beams of the patrol cart lazily drone along the sidewalks, but it never swept close. She was safe, melted and frozen on the bench at the crest of the hill, and the two others were low enough on the shore to be seen with a meager sweep. They all went unnoticed.

Piper rolled her head center, exhaling and watching the cloud dissipate around her. Her lips were numb and she couldn't feel her fingers, but it didn't matter. Unnoticed in the sun, unnoticed in the dead of night, what was the difference? Her dad forgot to call yesterday, forgot to call the day before, there was no difference.