Gakuen Alice #6

Now it's time for something completely different. A little taste of what this blog was originally meant for, Book Recaps!!!! ...erm, manga recap... It's a book with pictures. ^_^

Today we have Gakuen Alice #6 (the sixth installment of the manga series Gakuen Alice, go figure) by Tachibna Higuchi.

I first stumbled upon Gakuen Alice in the mutli-colored pages of Hana to Yume Magazine back in the days before I discovered Erin's Sanctuary (she posted summaries and translations) and ordered the magazine in order to get my biweekly Cain fix. Yeah, I couldn't read a word (It is in Japanese) but I could look at Yuki-sama's beautiful artwork and get the gist of what was going on in God Child. Gakuen Alice caught my eye because it had the most adorable artwork and color pages outside of Cardcaptor Sakura. I looked it up online but couldn't find anything about the series anywhere. I didn't pay much attention to it. But then in 2004 I heard they were coming out with an anime. I downloaded each and every episode (on dialup!)--well, except for the last four because they were done by a different group and whatever media type they used wouldn't work on my computer--and became a rabid fan.

Finally, scanlation groups started picking it up, but only released chapter on IRC. I hate IRC. I scoured the web and read through every tutorial I came across but never managed to make the damn program work on my computer. Damn you scanlation groups that release only on IRC!!!!! *doneranting* So I actually never got to read it until Tokyo Pop got a hold of it.

And Volume 6 finally takes us to where the anime left off!!! Woo-hoo! Are you excited? I know I am.

BASIC STORY: Alice Academy is a school in Tokyo for kids with special abilities called Alices (abilities that range from pyrokenesis to a kid who's farts knock you out. Hey, my father-type-person's an Alice!) are gathered, taught, and "protected." There's something dark going on behind the scenes of this cutesy manga and the Academy's been giving unusual attention to new student and heroin Mikan Sakura, and bad boy Natsume Hyuga. It kind of reminds me of a cross between Harry Potter and Cardcaptor Sakura for some reason.

We start of with Naru-sensei (one of the teachers at the Academy) delivering a letter to Mikan's grandfather from Mikan. (Letters home are forbidden).

Naru is kind of a mysterious character with some kind of hidden agenda going on so I'll let you in on what we know about him thus far. He's very pretty (the blond girly kind of pretty that makes me go weak in the knees). He has the Alice of Human Pheromones. He's obsessed with whom we believe to be Mikan's mother and is rather protective of Mikan though the students might not see it that way. He dislikes the way the Academy is run. And he's my favorite character. (If you think it's because of his resemblance to Lorent Parker you are correct ^_-).

Mikan (Nullification Alice), her best friend Hotaru (Invention Alice), and Nonoka (some kind of science Alice) are raking leaves and are really excited that Prez (Illusion Alice) is coming back. He won the best student award and got to go home to visit his family for a week (he hasn't seem them in four years. He never even met his little sister.). And yeah, you're not allowed the leave the Academy once you're there. They're kind of strict about that. And I totally thought Prez was a girl all through the anime until I read the manga. Prez's real name is Yuu Tobita, but a lot of characters have nicknames and it's easier to keep track of them that way.

There's an important bulletin telling the students that five adults out in the outside world's Alices have disappeared without warning. While everyone's freaking out Hotaru listens in on a conversation between two fo the teachers with her "panda with ears tracer."

Naru's talking to Misaki-sensei (who seems to be Naru's best friend at the academy) and they admit a student in the junior division has lost their Alice. (Mikan and co. are in the elementary division). Misaki-sensei warns him not to do anything extreme or it'll effect Mikan.

Natsume (Fire Alice) sulks and wanders away from the other students. His best friend Luca--or Ruka--(Animal Pheromone Alice) follows him and asks what's going on and if something happened. Natsume tells him not to worry about it. I think he's a masochist.

Mikan goes to the Specials room (the are five different ability types--Latent, Somatic, Technical, Special, and Dangerous. Mikan's in the Special group--the leftovers that don't fit in anywhere else, kind of like Hufflepuff) and pouts about Natsume avoiding her. (She so likes him and just doesn't know it yet). In comes a very handsome senior with cigarette in hand and she hangs out with him until Tsubasa (Shadow Manipulation Alice) and Misaki (Doppelganger Alice, and yes it's another Misaki so the other one will always be referred as Misaki-sensei. Wonder if they're related...Hmm...) who up. Tsubasa yells at Mikan to stay away from Tounochi (Amplification Alice) who's a womanizer and apparently not above hitting on ten-year-old girls. Eww.

Tounouchi does a lot of jobs outside the academy because his ability is so useful but the current on was cancelled so he's just hanging out for the day. He's also the Special Ability Type's representative.

Tounouchi recognizes Mikan's name when introduced because she's Natsume's partner and asks her about Natsume's health since he's been seen going in and out of the school hospital a lot. He has kind of a weird interest in him. Maybe he likes to hit on ten-year-old boys, too.

Mikan asks Noda-sense (the specials teacher and Time Travel Alice) about the "loss of Alice" incidents. Node-sense doesn't seem to know anymore than Naru.

Meanwhile Prez is on his wy home when a bag lady runs in front of the car and the car slams on the breaks to avoid her. Prez gets out of the car to see if she's okay and offers her his hand to help her to her feet. Prez thinks that the woman reminds him of someone but can't think who. Deathy's bad guess that will ultimately be wrong: Mikan.

Prez returns to campus and everyone happily exclaims "Souvenirs!" Hotaru een holds a flag that says "Big Catch." Nice welcoming for your friend.

Prez passes out his gifts and someone writes on Curly's (Her name's Sumire, Cat Alice) doll and she gets pissed. She discovers it was Mind-Reader (Mind-Reading Alice, maybe?) and Fox-Eye (Flying Alice)--no idea what their names are--and commands Prez to create an illusion to frighten them. Prez then discovers that his Alice isn't working! Oh noes!!!

Prez is put into quarantine and after two days Mikan begs Naru to let her see him. He can't let her but offers to give him a message. Hotaru throws a flower pot at his head. A FLOWER POT. At his HEAD. He's knocked unconscious (ten-year-olds are strong) and she attatches some kind of mind control device to his head and order him to take them to the lab where Prez is being kept. I love how random this manga is sometimes.

Prez is extremely moved that they came to see him. He's scared, wondering what's going to happen to him and starts to cry. I love Prez. He's so cut.

Mikan's grandfather once told her that if you fold 1000 paper cranes with a prayer, they'll grant your wish, so she and her friends start folding paper cranes (origami is a required course in Japan). Hotaru makes a more elaborate one. Two other kids in their class wearing strange hats come over and start bullying Mikan for visiting Prez and infecting them all. Curly punches them then berates Mikan for doing something so reckless.

They're interrupted as Prez rejoins them. It wasn't a virus or anything and the teachers believe there's a change he could regain his Alice. They think it was stolen from him, that it was the bag lady who stepped in front of the car, and that she's a member of the Anti-Academy rebel organization "Z." Why did they tell all this to a ten-year-old? Shouldn't some things be kept under wraps? Seriously!

We first heard about Z in Volume 3, when super pop star sensation Reo kidnapped Natsume and asked him to join Z. Natsume declined.

Natsume thinks about Reo's invite and wanders away from group once more. Mikan follows him, calling him out on his behavior and demands to know if there's something about her that bothers him. He tells her he hates everything about her and walks away.

In the previous volume Natsume was threated by Persona (S&M weirdo freak extraodanair and leader of the Dangerous Ability Group) into continuing to do the Academy's dirty work or they'll hurt his friends, and mentioned Mikan in particular, which is why he's staying away from her. He knows the Academy is watching her. He thinks about the little girl who called him big-brother.

There's a sudden emergency at the Academy. A member of Z has infiltrated the school! Oh noes!!!

Natsume runs outside followed by Mikan, Prez, and Luca follow him, but Hotaru beat him to it. She's already on her hovering duck and tells them she's going to see the ones who stole Prez's Alice with her own eyes and asks Mikan to go with her. Mikan doesn't have to think twice and dives on the duck.

Mikan and Hotaru hide in the bushes near HQ and Mikan expresses her surprise that Hotaru would go this far for Prez. Hotaru explains that Prez is the glue that keeps the class together, he's one of the things that keeps her from being completely twisted by the academy. She used to think he was an idiot for trying so hard to keep the peace in their class by himself but when she asked him about it he told her they're all alone in the school but the school is their whole world. He hopes the day will come when everyone helps each other and they won't be sad and lonely anymore. She admires him for that. I think she has a crush. ^_^ They make a vow to get Prez's Alice back together.

The teachers discover that Mikan and Hotaru are near HQ but before they can get to them they're spotted by intruders. And now there are three instead of the two the academy believes there are, one with a gun. They see Hotaru first and keep going, but then Mikan pops out of the bush and the woman stops and reaches out for her. The gun-toting guards of the academy show up and the intruder with the gun fires aiming for the one behind Mikan. Hotaru, thinking he's trying to shoot Mikan, dives in front of the bullet and is shot in the shoulder.

The invaders get away and Hotaru is rushed to the campus hospital. The bullet is removed but there's an unknown virus that was tipped on the bullet. Hotaru's brother is also at the Academy. I can't remember his first name so I'll just call him by his last name, Imai. Imai has both the Healing Alice and the ability to inflict the pain he takes from people onto others. Pretty cool, huh? He's able to keep the virus from getting any worse but he can't get rid of it entirely. They need the anecdote for that.

Mikan's beside herself with worry because Hotaru was protecting her and got hurt because of it. Noda-sensei and Tounouchi show up in the hospital. Noda-sensei tells Natsume he's wanted in a Dangerous Ability meeting and will escort him there. Mikan is to be confined in her room until her punishment is decided. He asks Tounouchi to take her.

Mind-Reader is looking in on Hotaru through the glass and tells Mikan to come over, Hotaru's awake! She "tells" Mikan to smile and not worry about her. Mikan goes outside to cry and Luca follows. She tells him that Hotaru is in so much pain and she only worries about her instead of herself. She wishes she could be strong like Hotaru. Luca comforts her.

Instead of taking her to her room Tounouchi takes her back to the Specials room where she is scolded by Tsubasa, who keeps calling Tounouchi Gramps for some reason. Tounouchi tells them what happened to Hotaru and that they're going to have to steal the technology from Z, but he can't figure out how Z got in in the first place. (Int is a word, by the way). All he can think of is an unfounded rumor from a long time ago about a kid who had the Alice to make worm holes in the time-space continuum. He made a worm hole that led outside the Academy and has a student with a Spell Casting Alice hide it. He wrote the direction in a notebook and hid it somewhere in the senior division. And no one's ever found it.

It's enough to get Mikan all riled up and wanting to go look for it. She wants to do anything she can to help Hotaru. Tounouchi thinks one of the guys in the newspaper club might know where to start.

Natsume wanders away fronm his meeting and overhears Naru, Misaki-sensei, and Jinno-sensei (another teacher with the Thunder Alice. He's really mean.) discussing Hotaru. Jinno is unwilling to let Hotaru's parents see her even though she's in critical condition. He alludes to Mikan and Naru asks how he knew. Jinno says he can guess from the facts, and tells Naru he better watch himself.

Natsume looks in on Hotaru and kicks the little penguin robot she made that's crying about her. She tells him, or rather a voice imitating, mind-reading nurse that's passing by, tells him that it was expensive and he'd better not break it.

Mikan's behind talking out of her crazy plan and one-by-one the other kids agree to help her, Luca being hte first. Only seniors are premitted in the senior division so their first hurtle is that they're mostly kids. The little robot that followed Natsume hands Mikan a bag filled with Gulliver candy, a candy that allows you to age or de-age? the number of years indicated on the wrapping. (Man that would be useful.) The only thing about them is they only work while the candy's in your mouth and it has weird side effects, which was why it was pulled from shelves.

Since Mikan has to be confined in her room, Misaki will use the candy to be younger and pretend to be Mikan, while her doppelganger will continue to be her. A boy whose face can be molded lik clay will be the doubles of Luca and Natsume, and they'll use a hollogram for everyone else.

Mikan emerges as a fifteen year old dress in senior clothes (she really doesn't look any different) and Tounouchi gets all pervy and Tsubasa very protective. Natsume and Luca get ready (and are the hottest manga ten-year-olds ever) and Mikan's very surprised by how they look. Luca can't stop staring at Mikan. Natsume grabs Mikan by the chest and tells her it hasn't grown an inch (that's tactful). Tounouchi stares at him longingly wishing he were ten so he could get away with that. (Or maybe for another reason....)

They go to the senior division whose walkway is lined with very creepy looking statues. They sneak around the school and Mikan confesses to Luca that she's so nervous her candy's already dissolved. He tells her to hide in a corridor and when the two step in they're trapped in a time warp. Tsubasa uses his shadow manipulation to get them out but they're already elementary students and are noticed.

They escape and finally make it to the newspaper club and find Hayami, the information freak that wears weird goggles for no reason, kind of like Quatre.

Tounouchi asks about eh worm hole and he tells him it most like exists. There's an area in the west building on the second floor where two peopel were seen around the time of the incident with the intruders. That ghosts often appear in that area, always in groups of two and holding an old notebook. And that one looks exactly like student body president Shuichi Sakurano.

To be continued...

Allistar Update; Help!

My goals for January were reworking and editing the first seven chapters that were already written and I succeeded. But once again I am on Chapter Eight, and, once again, I've stumbled across my old friend Writer's Block. I wish he would lose my number... I think my problem with chapter eight is the book report. I just don't like it. So I've decided to cut it. Well, most of it. There's only one little thing I need to keep that leads into Chapter Nine. And now I have a big empty space in my story.

What's going on in the story; There are four kids attending a boarding school in upstate New York and I have to have SOMETHING happen in the month between Christmas Vacation and Valentine's Day. I would absolutely love suggestions. Anything at all to help me spark my muse. I'll love you forever. ^_-

And I'll go ahead and post the first chapter. I've been meaning to post this up here for a while. ^_^

* * * * *

Allistar Academy #1: A Morbid Curiosity

Chapter One
Down the Long Corridor

“‘Come and walk with me,’ said the fly. ‘Walk and swim through the mists of the sky.’

“The look the boy wore grew dim, for in the misty mores of the swamp his sight was very poor. He glanced to and fro, above and below, then returned to the fly, whose lips were watering before his eyes.

“‘Time is growing short,’ the fly sneered, and for a strand of a second the boy felt his vision clear. Was it a fly or something else? He snickered to himself. This was a fly, no doubt, a fly and nothing more. An idiot fly, in fact, for offering him paradise to explore.

“‘I have come to a decision, friend fly,’ said the boy with newfound bravado. ‘And I choose to accompany you into the sky.’

“The fly laughed as the boy mounted his backside and away they went. But soon the boy noticed something awry. The boy noticed too late. And, by and by, the fly consumed him until he died.”

* * * * *

Louis Vaan Maurdrid Crowley scanned the looks on his classmates faces with bemused interest as he finished reading his writing assignment aloud. Some seemed shocked, but others wore identical expressions of confusion. What he was searching for in their faces he was unsure, but what he saw satisfied him. A petite, orange haired girl in the front looked positively stunned.

He smiled, an elusive smile that barely tinged the corners of his mouth. Now maybe the old bat would let him go the rest of the year without him reading her idiotic assignments aloud to the class. Write a short passage about a creature that can fly. Honestly. He took this moment of awkward silence to check his teacher’s reaction. Mrs. Sumerly was a long thin pole of a woman with a short mass of pale hair and a severe face. It looked thoroughly unamused.

“Well, thank you, Mr. Crowley, for that…erm…interesting tale. Though, I must say, it lacked development and direction, and you ended it arbitrarily. Please, take your seat.” Then, after a moment, “Now.”

Evan Sworde, the handsome blond who sat one seat before him, gave him a bright smile as he returned to his desk. “Get the reaction you were hoping for, Von?”

“Vaan.” Elongate the A.

Evan snickered to himself and turned his attention back to the front of the class where the next poor victim had been chosen to read their paper.

Von sighed, taking his seat. Evan was one of those odd people he couldn’t get a handle on. Even after a week of being cold, rude, and distant to him, Evan still continued to treat him as a friend. He didn’t understand it. His hostile demeanor had been enough to alienate every other of his classmates. Louis Vaan Maurdrid Crowley didn’t have any friends. He was completely, utterly, alone. And he liked it that way.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period and of the school day. Von gathered his things and went to leave when he felt a tug at his arm. He looked disdainfully at the hand latching onto him. “What do you want, Evan?”

“Come with me, Von,” he said, his blue eyes bright with sincerity.

“No, thank you,” he replied coolly, prying his arm free.

“Why not?” he demanded, his English accent dripping into his words. “What is it you do in that room all by yourself? Ever since school started you haven’t left your room but for classes and meals. You can’t be spending every second of the day studying.”

“I…” He trailed off, unable to find the words.

“See, you don’t have a reason. So you have to come with me.”

“What kind of logic is that?”

“Mine.” Evan smiled again, pulling him out of the classroom. “We’re going to have fun.”

* * * * *

Allistar Academy was a private school, nestled in comfortable seclusion in a valley of the Adirondack Mountains. Having once been a small village, the majority of it had been bought sometime in the earliest part of the 20th century by a private owner and converted into a boarding school. It was a large school, housing students from sixth to twelfth grade, an exclusive school for the intellectually gifted. Or the obscenely rich.

It was now the second week into Von’s sixth grade year. Save trying to memorize his schedule which varied by the day, he had been finding it all he had hoped for, having been home-tutored all his life. Housed alone in his room, at the end of the hallway on the first floor of Dorm Omicron, he enjoyed his privacy very much. And in one week, he had succeeded in isolating everyone who thought to talk to him. Except Evan Sworde, that is.

Evan had arrived on the second day of school. Tall for his age, and handsome and blond, all eyes in their English class had instantly fallen upon him as he strode nonchalantly through the door, especially the ones belonging to girls.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he told Mrs. Sumarly, wearing a cherub expression fit for an angel and handed her a slip of paper, his voice rich with his English accent. “My name is Evan Sworde,” he introduced himself to the class. “I’ve come from Kent. As of today, I have transferred here. Please excuse me for interrupting your lesson.”

The two girls beside him had immediately started with their hushed whispers and giggles.

Mrs. Sumarly read over the note quickly. “It's fine. There’s an empty seat by Mr. Crowley. Von, raise you hand.”

Slung low in his seat he held his hand into the air. Evan’s smile flickered, his eyes laid intensely upon Von’s, and made his way to the back of the classroom. He smiled at Von as he sat down.

Their teacher quickly issued him a textbook and continued on with her lesson.

The new boy held his hand out towards him as the dismissal bell rang. “Evan Sworde,” he said.

Von stared at the hand as though it might be some vile creature looking to bite off some fingers for lunch.

“Aren’t you going to shake my hand?”

“No. I don’t know where it’s been.”

Evan’s smile brightened and he dropped his arm. “Von Crowley, isn’t it? Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Von.”

From what Von had overheard, Evan was a son from a family of noble descent in England, and had spent his early childhood at his home estate overseas, then the last six years traveling abroad with his father. That was all he knew.

“I really like it here,” Evan was saying as he led him out the English building and across the campus after Ms Sumerly's lecture. “I’ve seldom been around other children my age and I’m quite enjoying it.”

“I’m not a child,” Von said sourly.

Evan laughed. “What are you, then? Eleven-year-olds are not adults, or teenagers, so what are you?”

“How are you so sure I’m eleven?”

“Because you’re in sixth grade? Unless you're nine and some kind of super genius.” He smiled teasingly. “You’re so short, I’d believe that.”

Von was not amused. “So where are you taking me?” he asked after a minute of following Evan blindly.

Evan’s smile widened, if possible. “It’s a secret.”

“And you’d trust me? Someone you don‘t even know?”

He watched Evan’s eyes following the street below them, being ever so careful not to step on any cracks in the pavement. “I think you’re trustworthy. You don’t strike me as the sort who goes running off to a teacher for every little mischief.”

Von retaliated against Evan’s silent vendetta, making sure to stomp loudly on every crevice in the ground. “You’re an idiot.”

Evan stomped on his foot. “I don’t think so.”

Von grabbed him, clopping on his foot harder.

Evan laughed and poked his arm. “Come on, it’s this way, “ he said, pointing towards a dingy building in the distance. He grabbed the dawdling brunette’s arm, pulling it.

Through the campus they ran; a left here, a right there, coming around the same buildings several different times. Eventually Von lost track of how many turns and where they actually were, but one thing was for sure… “Evan, isn’t this off-limits to students?” he asked the blond as they came to a dilapidated old three story Victorian house on the outskirts of the school's grounds.

Evan laughed. “You didn’t strike me as the sort who cared for rules.”

“You did.” Von felt his lip twitch, threatening to turn into a smile, but he controlled the impulse. They’d passed the building three times in their running.

Evan laughed again. It was beginning to unnerve Von. Never in his life had he met someone so…happy. The boy was never without his sardonic smile.

“We’re going to play a game,” he explained, and after a quick look around to make sure no one had followed them, opened the fragile side door that looked as though it were about to fall off it's hinges. He pulled Von inside behind him. “And it will be a lot more fun with three people instead of two.”

The door opened up into a decorated lobby filthy with dust, dirt, and debris; a couple old chairs scattered hither and thither, a few resting on their sides. Old wooden ones. Down the hall before them stood an enormous staircase leading to the upper floors. With careful peaks around every turn, they at last seemed to come to the place Evan was looking for. The pair entered through the simple door on the first floor and into a grand schola whose every seat was draped with a dingy white sheet. Light shone in from a solitary window high above them. Alone in the front row sat a girl with layered short light brown hair a shade or two darker than sawdust; her back to them.

Evan bounced down the steps toward her. “I brought someone to play with us, Kami,” he said.

She looked back at him with curiosity. She was tiny, with features small and delicate fitting perfectly with her small face. She was cute, maybe even pretty. Or she would be if she smiled. Her hair lovingly framed her pale round face and large eyes, that even from the back of the room, Von could tell were a clear blue, and held not a particle of Evan‘s warmth. Intense and decisive. Not what he would have expected.

“Hello,” she greeted him softly. “I don’t know you.”

“No, you don’t,” he agreed.

Evan’s smile brightened. “Von, this is Kamryn Helena Synthell. I call her Kami because Kami is another name for God, and I think she’s like a goddess.”

Kamryn turned beat red at his remark. Von fought the urge to leave.

“Kami, this is Louis Vaan Crowley. I call him Von.”

Von looked at Evan sharply, who was still focused intently on Kamryn. He had no idea Evan even knew his full name, let alone could actually pronounce Vaan correctly. “So…what is this game I keep hearing about?” he asked them.

Evan’s smile widened. “So you are interested,” he said, walking back up the steps.

“Well, since you’ve gone through all the trouble of dragging me here and making me miss Assembly. And I’m curious as to what sort of game the two of you play by yourselves in an abandoned building.”

Kamryn smiled at him, but it was an amused sort of smile. “It’s simply Hide and Seek.”

“And what’s that?” Von asked.

Evan’s happy grin vanished and was replaced by confusion. “You’ve never played Hide and Seek?” He turned to Kamryn quickly. “Do they call it something else here?”

“No.”

“Have you ever even heard of it?”

Von shook his head, frowning. “I don’t have the time for games,” he spat evenly

“Well, you do now. And it’s easy,” he went on without a beat. “Someone is It. The person who’s It hides their eyes and counts to one-hundred. Everyone else hides. When the person who’s It is done counting they come to find and catch the others. The first one to be caught is It next. We don’t play with base.”

“Base?”

“A safe spot that when you touch it you can no longer be caught,” Kamryn explained.

“Oh,” Von said simply. “That makes sense.”

“So will you play with us?” Evan asked earnestly.

Von shrugged.

Evan laughed again. “Good. You’ll enjoy it. Kami, do you want to be It?”

“Yeah,” she said, standing up at last. She smiled widely and covered her eyes. “One. Two. Three…”

Grabbing Von by the arm, Evan pulled him back out of the room. “You can hide in any classroom in this building, on any of the floors,” he explained. You’re caught when she sees you. But we can’t stay together.”

“So, I go anywhere in here and just hide and wait?”

The blond nodded. “You can move around, just try to do it without her seeing you. And it makes it more fun that way. I leave you now. Good luck.” Smiling, he turned and ran off, disappearing around the corner

As Evan departed Von surveyed his surroundings, an empty corridor littered with rooms. It turned in corners to both his directions, the staircase nestled safely to his left. It was dark and dusty, damp and stinking with the pungent odor of mildew; the creepy unused feeling of a so-called haunted house that hadn’t had a tenant in a long time. His mind snapped into focus as he heard Kamryn say “fifty-seven,” and he made his way up the two flights of stairs and into a classroom towards the far end of the hall. He couldn't have said what it was that made him go up the stairs. He disliked stairs. The many steps caused his hip to hurt. But today he felt fine.

There were maybe as many as two dozen desks scattered around the room, the old type, wooden with the chairs attached, all which once must’ve been covered by the sheets that were now strewn across the floor. He liked these old types of desks that he’d seen in old movies, and briefly wondered if there were a way he could snatch one for his room.

Then a plain wooden door to the left caught his attention and carefully he waded through the sea of desks to reach it. An office, perhaps. The door pushed opened easily. Maybe not an office.

Inside were a mass of more desks, chairs and even more sheets littered about, stacked haphazardly on top of each other. He could hide here, but then he’d have no way of knowing where Kamryn was; he’d be a sitting duck.

There was another door at the other end of this little storage closet, but he’d have to climb over everything to reach it.

Maybe not.

He enveloped himself under the sheet and laid there still. It reeked of dust and mold and was quite unpleasant; much like the unused rooms of his house.

But if Kamryn didn’t pick the sheet up to examine it’s contents she’d never know he was there.

So he waited. Minutes went by in silence, stretching to seem like hours. Then--

“I see Evan!” Kamryn’s voice rang out. “Now I’m coming to get you, Von!”

He lay immobile for another eternity before he heard Evan‘s voice. “Okay, Von, we give up. Neither of us can find you.”

Von tossed the sheets off and exited the closet through the other door, after carefully maneuvering over the unstable pile of furniture. He stopped. There was something terribly odd about this room as he entered it. It held just as many desks as the former, but they were all pushed to one corner in a massive heap. And in the adjacent corner he saw a crumpled candy wrapper lying beside a Coke can. But that wasn’t it.

It took him a minute to realize.

It was dust. The room lacked the dust that was so laden in the entire wing. Evan and Kamryn aren’t the only ones who use this place, are they?

Uneased, he traveled back through the sea of clutter, exiting the classroom the way he‘d come, with the decision that he wouldn’t say anything about it. Evan was standing at the other end of the hall. Catching sight of Von his face lit up with a grin. “Kami,” he said.

Kamryn poked her head out of the classroom, smiling as she saw him. Pointing, she yelled, “I see Von! You’re caught.”

Von stared at her blankly. “But you said you gave up because you couldn’t find me,” he argued.

She shook her head, exiting the classroom and bouncing over to him, in a much happier mood than before. “No. Evan said that. Only the person who’s It can say they give up.”

Von narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t tell me that.”

Evan laughed, joining them. “Well now you know. You must’ve found a really good place. We looked for you for a long time; I thought you just left.”

“I’m going back.” He started to walk.

Evan and Kamryn followed in step. “It’s probably nearing dinner time anyway,” Evan told him. “This was fun. I hope you come back and play tomorrow.”

“It was fun,” Kamryn agreed. “With just two people it’s rather boring. Three makes it much more interesting.”

“You can be It first tomorrow.”

Von shrugged.

“You will come again, won’t you?” he asked.

Von shrugged again. “Maybe. If I can’t find anything better to do.”

At dinner he quickly detangled himself from Evan and Kamryn’s company, annoyed with their chatter. The game of Hide and Seek had eaten up the afternoon and he still had the day’s homework to complete. Sighing in annoyance, he sat with his tray at a nearly empty table in the corner of the balcony overlooking the main cafeteria. People seemed to prefer not to have to carry their trays up the stairs. He could see why but he preferred solitude. And he enjoyed having a bird's eye view of those who lingered below.

There was one other boy who inhabited his table; he was dark haired and probably one or two grades ahead of Von, and they’d sat together every day since school started without ever giving the other a glance. Today the boy looked up as Von took his usual seat.

Von sat for a while, rotating from poking his food with the fork and staring out a faraway window, strangely preoccupied.

“I saw you come in with some people,” the boy across from him said.

Von jerked his head up. They’d never spoken to each other before and he didn‘t want to start now. “What about them?” he asked defensively.

The boy didn’t blanch. “I was wondering why, if you’re friends with them, you’re sitting here.”

“They’re not my friends,” he said without hesitation. “We were merely playing a game.”

“What game?”

Von looked him straight in the eye. “It‘s none of your business.”

Silence ensued. It was nearly a minute before the boy opened his mouth again to speak. “My name’s Daniel,” he told him.

Von poked the food again; a shapeless brown blob that was masquerading as meat.

“What’s yours?”

“Von,” he said simply. No one would ever say it right.

“That’s a strange name,” Daniel commented.

“And Daniel’s absolutely, completely and utterly normal!” Von barked back.

The boy said nothing else, consigning to stab his food much like Von had been.

After another moment, Von left.

* * * * *

The forbidden building of the school, Von discovered, was merely unused, originally titled Brayton Hall and had once been the science building. One that, the rumors said, was scheduled to be torn down, but people kept putting up a fight, signing petitions, insisting it remain for it’s historical merit, constantly delaying the inevitable. According to the librarian, Mrs. Perkins, it hadn’t been used in the twenty years since the new science lab had been built.

Not by the faculty, anyway.

Von thanked the librarian for her time and she smiled kindly at him and asked him to come see her should he have any other questions. Then he returned to his room to do his homework. He made his way down the now familiar route to his dorm, careful to keep his eyes to the ground, not even glancing up when he heard Evan’s voice call out a cheery “hullo!” to him.

He smirked at Mrs. Sumerly’s daily journal assignment when he had finally returned to his room. If you lived under the sea, what do you think life would be like? Describe a day’s events.

The sun rose, but not a creature noticed, he wrote, smiling to himself. For you see, the light never touched the ocean floor…

He went on, describing how jellyfish rioted for the light, holding the other creatures as hostages and stung them all, killing them and polluting the water, which eventually killed off everyone, including themselves. It was a bad day under the sea.

As he got ready for bed his thoughts wandered back to Evan and Kamryn and the game of Hide and Seek. It was fun, he had to admit, playing with them. He had never been invited to play with other children before.

Maybe he would go back to play again tomorrow. It certainly made time pass by quicker than him sitting alone in his room reading or surfing the Internet on his laptop.

The afternoon’s excitement had taken more out of him than he’d realized; he was asleep within minutes, his dreams abound with Evan and Kamryn and that odd room at the end of Brayton Hall with so little dust.