Fantasy secret at sacred heart // 1 x 1 w/ jazzy & rose

[JustJazzy]

rosefilm

The sky was assuming a dull, monotonous grey color, raindrops thumping against the windowsill when Joseph stirred from a restless stasis.

He rubbed his eyes, more out of habit then any true need, before slowly extracting himself from the thin covers atop his barely-used cushion. His first foot found dry, carpeted flooring. The other found a puddle of water, the cold a shock to his system that had the boy jolting awake in moments. He grit his teeth, annoyed eyes finding the culprit - an open window and the excited water droplets already beginning to invade the room.

It appeared his roommate had failed to shut the window after last night's escapades, had failed to even return to the room if his undisturbed bed was any implication.

Joss decided not to let that fact bother him much as he half-heartedly heated up the skin around his feet to the carpet, speeding up the evaporating process of the water. Within seconds, the carpet was dry once again and he was propping the window shut. The drips of the water stopped, Joss' ears twitched as another disturbance - this time in his and his roommate's shared bathroom - made itself known with an indistinctly familiar "bleh". Slipping on his furriest house-slippers and cautiously inching towards the door, Joss pushed it open.

And there Willard was.

His roommate's eyes were blood-shot, his chocolate skin had taken on a sickly green undertone uncommon for vampires, especially ones as well-fed as they were.

Joss tried to push smugness to the back of his mind as Will let out another "bleh" noise, emptied the contents of his stomach into the - mostly there for show - toilet. Even with the words "I-told-you-so" playing in the back of his mind, Joss couldn't help the concern that dotted his senses, had him stepping closer to the horrendous smell just to verify that his roommates was okay. Joss was just reaching over to pull Will's dark curls out of the way of the toilet bowl when the boy sat up, giving Joss a full view of his face. Rancid blood smeared the corners of his mouth, the smell emanating almost as terrible as the sight.

"I know," he slurred, canines flashing, "I know what you're going to say..."

Joss stepped back a bit to get out of the way of that remarkably bad breath, biting his lip to keep from laughing at how ridiculous Will looked right now, a grim contrast from his invigorated state just last night.

"..and, and, you don't have to say it again... Because I'm never going to do it ag - " the boy broke off to hurl himself back over the toilet bowl, heaving red once again.

"Don't talk right now," Joss instructed, stepping back to the frame of the door-way. "conserve your energy for getting rid of all of that animal blood, okay? I'm going to go see if I can get you something."

Will's head bobbed up and down enthusiastically, before drooping down towards the toilet once more. Shutting the door to the bathroom a crack as another muted "bleh" noise took to the air, Joss heaved a sigh before pulling his school sweatshirt over his shoulders, heading out the door.

It was still too early for anyone apart from the athletes and the early-birds to be up. So the dorm hallway was empty, void of any noise apart from the muted sounds of stasis his enhanced ears could pick up. Rounding the corner, Joss pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his grey sweatpants, already dreading walking through the downpour outside. There was no use stalling the inevitable; Joss pushed open the door to the dorms and throw himself into a half-hearted jog towards the cafeteria. The churn of his empty stomach was somehow more evident at this slow pace, Joss made a mental note to grab himself something as well.

His ears registered the speedy motions before his eyes did, Joss throwing himself to the side just as a pale figure - was that Max? - whizzed to a stop beside him. The aforementioned guy flashed pearly whites in a grin that was all at once annoying and amusing.

"Going mighty slow there this fine morning" Max pointed out, massaging the knuckles of one hand between the other, bouncing on the balls of his feet like it took real effort to keep himself from hurtling into another breakneck pace.

"You know that's against the rules now," Joss pointed out wryly, already moving to continue the commute towards the cafeteria. After a moment of silence, Max slid into the space beside him, heaving an exaggerated sigh.

"Yea, I remember. Everything fun is against the rules now that we've got humans coming. Remember the days when food stayed in its place and we stayed in ours?"

This kind of bitter rhetoric was quickly becoming commonplace among students at Sacred Heart thanks to the announcement by faculty just a month prior that humans would be coming to the school, staying in the school. With that had come a new policy of changes - rules and restrictions all students now had to adhere too in order to prevent exposure. Abilities were a no, no, curfew of 10 PM was actually being enforced, and actual human food in all its blandness was being introduced into the cafeteria. Gross.

All of this was irritating, even the vamps who were the biggest proponents of humans had to agree. So naturally, Joss whose opinions on humans were somewhere in the neutral zone agreed. Even so, the talk among students going on and on about the unfairness, the unjustness of the situation - all of it was becoming a little... Irritating?

Joss knew better then to put that into words, especially in front of someone who was as against humans as Max was. The boy had made more than a couple of comments related to slaughtering them the second they walked through the doors, maybe treating them like what they were, blood bags for the rest of the school. How much truth there was to those inflammatory comments? No one really knew.

But privately, Joss pegged Max as a guy who was all bark and no bite. Hopefully that would stay the case.

"Yea," Joss threw out distractedly, realizing the silence had persisted for much too long and Max's curious eyes were focused on his."sorry Max, I'm just trying to get Will a blood bag since he was one of those idiots who tried that blood substitute stuff last night."

Max's eyes grew big, contagious laughter bursting from his lips that made Joss' lip twitch in spite of the seriousness of the situation."Don't laugh, he's suffering right now. Really. He's been throwing up all morning."

"Serves him right. Trying to be like those weird vegan vamps with their weird animal blood concoctions." Max shivered exaggeratedly, a smile playing on his lips in spite of the harshness of his words. "honestly, they give us a bad name."

Sometime between their conversation and the jogging, Joss found he'd reached the cafeteria.

Max broke off soon after to allegedly "run some laps around the dorm", running off just as Joss pushed open the door to the cafe and stepped in. Most of the blood for students had been moved into the basement of the cafeteria within a large fridge in preparation for the human students. The commute down the stairs was a quick one, Joss pulling open the heavy fridge door (designed for the very purpose of being too heavy for any human to open with or without help) with one hand, retrieving a couple of bags with the other.

Exiting the cafeteria, stowing the blood in the space within his sweatshirt and regulating his body temperature to a little colder than the bags in order to keep them fresh, Joss headed back towards his dorm. The rain was letting up a little now, the sky was clearing to make way for the morning sun.

Already looking forward to a change of clothes and a warm shower, Joss distractedly paused in his steps as his ears registered someone clearing their throat.

He turned to the side, taking in the assistant headmaster's - Dr. Cambridge - compact form, from the dark umbrella he carried over his head, the curl of his dark mustache to the shine of his brown shoes. "Joseph Chodiev. You're up early." Dr. Cambridge pointed out as Joss murmured a hesitant 'good-morning'. "you did receive my message about the early morning welcoming committee then, I presume?"

Huh?

Joss scoured his brain for any messages he might've received about a welcome committee earlier that week, found no matches. Sneaking a peek at Dr. Cambridge revealed no hints apart from the self-satisfied expression on the older vampires face.

"Good. I think you will have fifteen minutes to change before you are needed at the gates of the school," the man broke off to give him a disdain-filled once over. "I assume you are going to change?"

Joss tilted his head into a nod, nervous energy pulsing through him as he turned to head back towards the dorm. Dropping off the blood, helping his slightly recovered roommate into bed, changing into his full uniform, retrieving an umbrella from deep inside his backpack - he did all of those tasks in record time, taking only a moment to eat a little breakfast - some sips of what was left of the bags his roommate had hungrily taken too just moments before. The normal, healthy color was returning to his roommates skin, the guy giving him a thumbs-up just before Joseph exited the dorm.

Then he was heading across the campus again, cursing himself for bringing the now useless umbrella (the rain had stopped, the sky was clearing up). He reached the schools dark gates and assimilated into the group of students he assumed were the welcome committee just as a long, dark car descended through the open gates, coming to a stop just a couple of feet away from their group.

Heaving out a distressed sigh as he folded his hands behind his back, Joss pushed curiosity to the forefront of the emotions racing through him as the first human stepped from the car, bags in hand.

 

[rosefilm]

“It’s raining outside. The roads will be slippery, maybe it’s a sign - you know? You should stay here with your family. This whole going away for school business is a bit ridiculou-“

“Bee, it’s too late. You can’t expect her to back out now after the whole process she’s gone through.” An older man, wrinkles covering his face and white silver hair adorning the top of his head, placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder whom was helping Reign finish up the last bit of packing she needed to do. It was the one week anniversary of her acceptance letter to Sacred Heart academy appearing at her doorstep.

Reign smiled up at her grandmother and how she fretted so. She knew the day she’d be expected to arrive at said academy would be a hard day for her.

Her grandfather was a bit indifferent. He was more supportive actually, but he had his doubts about the school as well. He wouldn’t voice those concerns out loud just to rule up his wife but they were there. “Wade, she’s never been without us a day in her life. What if she’s hungry? Needs her laundry done? Someone to talk to? Reign, sweetie, I know you’ve had your heart set on this academy for a while but I feel like you’re not ready. Being independent is a big responsibility.”

“Beloved.”

Wades attempt to reel Bee’s and her worries in was a failed attempt. “And this school? Taking tuition with blood? I mean that’s just not right. It’s suspicious, that’s what it is.”

Reign zipped up the last bag she had from a total of 3 - one book bag, one duffel bag, and one suitcase. She didn’t pack away all her clothes, just to give her grandmother a sense of hope she was coming back and not disappearing forever, and she’d be receiving an allowance from the academy anyhow to use as she pleased every week. “There’s a cafeteria on campus, and I’m positive a laundry room too. I have a phone if I need to call you, and I think I can take care of myself. You’ve done an amazing job raising me all these years and now I have to go and do what I need to do to repay you guys for everything you’ve done for me.”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “If I graduate from Sacred Heart then it’ll open a window of opportunities for me.”

Beloved let out her own, and crossed her arms as she looked between both her granddaughter and her husband. She finally gave in after a few stares shared amongst one another. “I want you to call me every night. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

A smile spread on her face and let out an excited squeal. This chance, this scholarship, was all she had ever dreamed of. Some people had dream colleges... this was her dream high school.

Sure, the exchange of blood from her to the school was odd but it was for a reason. Sacred Heart was very charitable, using a scholarship program they constructed to donate blood to local hospitals.

There was also another amazing thing that came out of such a relationship between the two. Her blood was a rare type, one she had never heard of before applying to the academy. It was labeled X, and it had been the first time in the history of Sacred Heart that they had encountered such a blood type before.

Because of this she was offered a suite dorm where she’d have her own kitchen, bedroom, bathroom... It was a mini loft of sorts. She prayed there was a washer and dryer so her grandmother wasn’t fretting over the fact she didn’t think she had clean clothes and was living like a neanderthal. She wouldn’t be housed with the other students of her scholarship which was a bit upsetting since it would have been nice to make new friends under her same circumstances of poverty... though she wasn’t one to complain. She’d be with those who got in to Sacred Heart with money, and that was a bit frightening.

Everyone knew rich kids were brats, and she was sure Sacred Heart students weren’t the exception. What Beloved didn’t know was that even though Reign wanted to go, she was scared. She couldn’t express that because then she’d be convinced to stay, but every teenagers first time on their own was frightening... but exciting at the same time.

There was a honk outside of the small townhouse, signaling that the private car from Sacred Heart was ready to pick her up and take her to her new home for the semester. Wade bent down, grabbing the book bag and duffel bag while Reign took hold of her suitcase.

The three had made their way down the stairs to the living room, which held the front door. Beloved went to push it open while Wade and Reign walked through towards the car. The driver had gotten out, already helping the two of them place the luggage inside the vehicle.

As such was happening, Reign turned to her grandmother with a smile. “Going to miss me?” She teased her softly, inciting a pout from her and being embraced almost immediately.

“More than anything.” She buried her white curls into her neck, and Reign wrapped her arms around her with a satisfied breath of air. “I’m only a phone call away.” The two lingered in each other’s arms for a moment or so before she said goodbye to Wade, and he opened the door for her to get inside the car. He hesitated before closing it, giving her one last look. “Make us proud.” He eventually said, a cheeky grin spreading across his lips.

“Promise.” She nodded, and watched as he shut the door. Almost immediately, seemingly as they were on a tight schedule, the driver pulled out of the small driveway and onto the road. It was about a two hour drive to Sacred Heart academy, and the entire drive had Reigns nerves through the roof. Would the classes be difficult? Would she make any friends? Not that she was even that socially outgoing to begin with, so that was probably a negative.

She wanted to turn over a new leaf though, being at a new school meant no one knew who she was. She could become a completely different person and no one would be able to tell.

She stared out of the backseat car window, her head resting against it softly. She could feel the vibrations of the road from the glass, watching raindrops slide down the transparent surface.

In less than 3 hours, the black car pulled up to the rather large campus. She had never seen a school so big, her eyes widening as her forehead pressed against the window. Her mouth agape, not being able to take in the full building in one gaze.

This wasn’t any normal high school, that was for sure.

She was helped out of the car after coming to a stop at the front gates, the only figure she could make out a few feet away was a boy - probably - with an umbrella. The rain had stopped though, thankfully.

“Welcome to Sacred Heart Academy, Miss Reign.” The driver said as he came around to open her door and offer her a hand, helping her out of the vehicle.

 

[JustJazzy]

A faint, perfumed odor took to the air as the girl vacated the vehicle.

Joss smelled it, and felt the muscles in his legs coil in response, the hairs along his skin standing up, even as his mind pushed down that initial urge to jump, to eat.

The other students beside him must have shared similar sentiments as Joss caught a glimpse of a couple of veins bulging, a couple of manicured hands forming into tight, locked fists. Of course most of these reactions to the smell of food, blood, fresh blood, so close... weren't as obvious as Joss made them out to be. What was obvious really were the smiles pushed onto most of the faces - welcoming, cheerful. They were almost absurd.

Inwardly Joss bitterly equated the students of the welcoming committee to mannequins, going through the expected motions, regardless of whether their heart was in it. And judging from many of the vocalized opinions circulating the school up to now, few of their hearts were in it.

Amberlynn Yates - student body president, chronic overachiever - she was the first to walk over, a smile pasted across her pink lips as she offered the human girl a welcome, gently extracted one of the lighter bags - a book bag - from the driver who was rapidly transferring the three bags from the vehicle to the ground. Joss kept to his place in the line, exchanging a quick glance with one of the boys nearest to him. Suck up.

Even so, he faintly wondered how the human was going to handle all of that luggage on her own. Her small, petite form barely looked like it could support her own weight.

Another vampire begin to step from the line of students slowly, deliberately. Cornelius Marx. Trouble, that boy was. He had a bit of a reputation on campus for being the type to barely put any effort into his schoolwork, but instead commit most of his time too bouncing between girls, creating his own drama amongst friend group after friend group.

Damn. He pitied the new girl already.

Cornelius bent to pick up the two bags effortlessly, passing the girl a coy little smile as he leaned forward to murmur something, probably of the flirtatious nature. Joss rolled his eyes inwardly at the intentional show of vampiric strength, a gesture that was blatantly against the rules. Not that the girl would catch on, of course. She'd probably just eat up that little display.

The car pulled off, allowing space for the next vehicle to pull up - a coach bus filled to the brim with student's. Joss' eyes widened as he stared between the bus to the receding black car.

Just what was so special about this girl that she got her own travel accommodations?

That question was forgotten relatively quickly as the other humans begin to exit the bus, merge into the small space that had previously only been occupied by the human girl. Suddenly the area in front of the school was loud, buzzing with voices and activity. And smelling even more delicious, though somehow not as delicious as that initial girls scent had been. Maybe it was just the initial shock of the smell?

Lead them into the gym. Quickly.

The Headmaster's telepathic invasions (note that they were only delivered to vampire students) were rare, usually only used during emergencies. So to hear one now made Joss start ever so slightly, the rest of the welcoming committee reacting more or less the same. Most of them recovered from the disturbance quickly, jumping into performing the task. Joss was one of the few who lingered a couple of seconds in the same place, eyes far-away, thoughts curiously seeking out the reason for this transfer.

That reason materialized in a softly uttered growl.

The sound was virtually imperceptible to the human ear but enough for all the vampires with their enhanced hearing to take note - one of the student's had caught the scent of the human flock, and was on the prowl. Joss turned in the direction of the sound, eyes honing, zooming in on the distance disturbance, one Jill Keller, by the dorms, being hauled in by her hair, her clothes, her limbs - whatever the frantically transforming students around her could grab.

Joss' enhanced eyes caught onto the veins bulging around her eyes and neck, the red color her normally hazel eyes had taken on, the eerie paleness of her usually fair skin.

She was the first case of vampire gone rabid, but she certainly wouldn't be the last.

Not with this many humans on campus around so many vampires, some of whom had never been exposed to a human - much less just the scent - before.

Jolting back into painful reality, Joss joined the rest of the welcome committee in ushering the students through the doors of the main building towards the gym, where Headmistress Crowley was likely preparing herself for the quick delivery of some speech.

 

[rosefilm]

Reign wasn't sure what to make of the enormous academy in front of her, or the line of students standing to greet her with large smiles on their faces.

Her entire figure shrunk back in itself, the social anxiety that usually attacked her in these moments emerging. She looked towards the ground, then back up at all of them with a faint smile which was all she could muster up at the moment. She took a deep breath or two, hopefully going unnoticed by them all, and the smile grew a bit bigger as the pressure on her chest began to fade.

She wasn't going to be the same shy girl she was back at her old school. Here she had an incredible opportunity with supposed incredibly gifted people, and she'd strive to be more.

To be extraordinary.

This is the first time in her life she'd be completely and utterly alone. No grandmother here to do your laundry, or grandfather around to fix something up for you. She had to be in charge of her meals, her schedule, waking up on time... everything. It felt like a lot now but she was sure with time she'd get used to it. It wasn't going to be as bad as Beloved tried to exaggerate it to be so she'd be frightened to ever leave home.

When she was greeted by one of the students whom had a certain aura of authority over the others, Reign could tell she was either the Vice President of the student body, or the President themselves. Either way, she offered her a much warmer smile than she had spread across her lips originally, speaking of how amazing it was to have the opportunity to attend Sacred Heart. She had bent down some, grabbing the duffel bag while she had her book bag to place around her body. From there she'd put her book bag on once it was returned to her, and roll the suitcase behind her.

Sure, she'd struggle some, but that was all apart of being independent... right?

Although, before she could pick it up, one of the boys had stepped from the line in order to lift it and carry her suitcase as well. She stood back up, her arm placed behind her back, where she began to thank him for being so kind. She even offered to carry them herself, that there was no need to be troubled with the new girl. It didn't seem like her efforts had much effect, however.

After he had waved away all her modesty, he leaned in to whisper something along the nature of a pick up line. She couldn't quite understand it, as it was almost lower than a whisper, but the few words she could make out definitely made her flush. She turned a beat red, and looked off to the side biting her lip. Don't get Reign wrong, she had some type of experience with boys. A relationship back home she left, stemming from middle school up until the current Junior year of high school but those were memories she'd rather forget. The pain wasn't worth remembering.

She was definitely impressed by the boys strength, but she didn't show it much. Almost everyone a foot taller than her was impressive in her eyes as she was rather on the more petite side.

The noise of another vehicle caught her attention, and she saw through the windows rows of other students. That couldn't be other scholarship students... if they were then how come she was the only one that traveled by herself? Wouldn't they all have shown up in shiny black cars? It couldn't have anything to do with her blood now... could it?

A dumb question to ask herself, of course. She had her own mini loft on campus while she was sure they'd stick three students in one room if possible but that was a bit of a stretch. Normal academies, from the research she did before she found Sacred Heart, usually accommodated up to two students a room. They'd have their own bathroom, but shared with another dorm connected to it. So... not really.

The space in front of the gates filled up quickly, and she found herself taking a step away from the group. They all already were seemingly bonding from those two hours spent on the bus while she had been bonding with the driver who only grunted in response to most of her questions about Sacred Heart.

Charming.

Reigns eyes did particularly linger on one boy, seemingly of Asian descent that she wouldn't try to categorize. He was attractive, one of the first things she noticed, and was probably the only one who didn't have a fake smile to offer her. He felt a bit more... real.

The air had shifted a bit, the other students not noticing those of what she pieced together was a welcoming committee for the scholarship kids, but she did. It was weird, she couldn't tell at all what it was but an aura. It was brushed off almost immediately anyhow.

She had been silently hoping that they'd be given a few hello's from them and ushered off to find their rooms but alas, they were being pushed towards a building. Possibly for an orientation which she expected but barely having slept the night before out of excitement... she was a bit tired. You wouldn't have noticed, bags under her eyes wasn't a look she usually adorned nor didn't cover up if it had the rare chance of forming on her face, but a slight yawn here and there would be a bit of a giveaway.

She took a seat in the front next to a few other students, some nice wooden chairs lined up in front of a microphone stand you'd see at conferences and such. The girl next to her turned to her, "I didn't see you on the bus."

"I wasn't on it. I was picked up in a car, by myself." She looked back at her suddenly, not expecting her existence to be acknowledged at all.

She gave her a puzzled look, "What makes you so special?"

"I... don't know. A misunderstanding, probably." Reign swallowed, and turned her attention as the orientation slowly started to begin with the clicking of very expensive heels.

 

[JustJazzy]

In the time it had taken for the welcoming committee to usher the humans students into the gym, the area had been quickly decorated with an array of simple furnishings - wooden chairs, a cacti plant or two, a string of lights upon a stage and a microphone stand. Somehow, the arrangement had the effect of transforming the space from an athletic one to a gathering more befitting the circumstances.

Folding his hands behind his head, impressed in spite of the tension radiating through his form, Joss slid into a space behind the chairs, standing with the couple of welcoming committee students who hadn't sat in the seats the closest to the stage, the closest to the humans. His ears caught bits of the conversation exchanged between human and vampire students alike, though laziness kept him from honing on any particular one. Instead he shut his eyes, allowed the nonsensical mix of words to wash over him, push him into a sort of daze that was only broken by the click of heels against the maple wood gym floor.

Joss jerked his head up abruptly as Headmistress Crowley took to the stage. She was as imposing as ever in her signature dark 5-inch heels, those accompanied by a long, crinsom-colored trench coat buttoned to the very last button. Joss craned his neck, head tilting upwards as the gym fell into silence.

The Headmistresses lips curled into a thin smile as she took the mic into her hand, brought it a couple of inches from her stained red lips.

"I'd start off with the sub-standard welcome speech, but by this point you should have heard something equating to that from every current student you've encountered since passing through our gates. So I'll just start by first congratulating you on your choice to attend our humble institution. Sacred Heart has been around for decades, and we have a history of successful alumni to show for it. In making the choice to attend, you've also made the choice to join their ranks, open the doors to a whole world of potential - "

The Headmistress continued her speech for a good couple of minutes before leaving and ushering a couple of current students to the stage to continue, the first being Amberlynn, which was typical. The blonde enthusiastically launched into a disquisition about the schools offerings, invited the humans to come check out the debate club, the student council. Then came the equally as enthusiastic Colin Yeager, followed by a fumbling, red-faced Francesca Lutes.

From there the unplanned assembly came to its natural end. The students were dismissed and reminded to check their emails for their schedules for class, which would start for them the following day.

Joss straightened, bounced on the balls of his feet to return the feeling to his now numb toes. From the corner of his vision he watched the welcoming committee organize themselves into two groups. It appeared this was necessary in order to more efficiently lead the humans to their dorms, or at least that's what it looked like Amberlynn was saying before her face wrinkled with annoyance, light eyes catching his from across the crowd before she was frantically motioning him towards her.

Hesitantly answering her summons with his own forward motion, Joss settled into the space beside the girl, already prepping himself for the verbal assault

"Joseph," the blonde broke off mind-sentence, frustration further punctuated by the little sigh that curled out of the corner of her lips. "why are you just standing there when you see that we're severely outnumbered. Honestly, its like your doing this just to be annoying..." Amberlynn uttered another soft sigh though this one was notably more exaggerated. ''Can you just join that group over there? Help them find their dorms. Don't just ditch them in the middle of campus, okay - "

He was already moving, rolling his eyes at the habitual nature of these little spats Amberlynn had been attempting to start with him since the beginning of time it seemed. Most of her attempts at chewing him out were unwarranted. Well usually. Not that that ever stopped her.

Coming up beside the group she'd encouraged him to join, Joss stood a couple of moments silently to just soak in the situation - a seemingly helpless Francesca Lutes attempting to single-handedly help a large group of human students all shoving paper-copies of their dorm assignments in her face. Sympathy circulated through him as Joss pushed to the front of the group in the space beside Francesca. Snatching a couple of the shoved papers from the air in front of him, Joss scanned the dorm names finding two common threads. Valentina and Octavia.

Right, right.

He recalled that the humans had been placed in either one of those two dorms which had been built rather recently for the sole purpose of separating the humans from the vampires. They were co-ed if he remembered properly, but only a few of the dorms on campus were single-sex anyway.

"Okay, if you're in Octavia go join the blonde over there," he motioned vaguely towards Amberlynn whose eyes lit up when she heard what he was doing. "if you're in Valentina stay over here. Francesca and I will lead you guys from here." from there went the simple procedure of separating the humans into two flocks. It was a relatively easy task now that everyone had a bit more organization and before long the groups had been split and Amberlynn's group was off. There was just one problem.

"Hey, Joss?" came a nervous voice that Joseph instinctively whirled to hear.

A familiar ginger face loomed in front of him - Zachary, and beside him was the dark-haired new-girl from earlier. Zachary held her schedule up for him to see, and Joss pulled his eyes from hers for just a second to look at this sheet of paper.

And it was kind of strange, because instead of Octavia or Valentina, her dorm assignment said Domitia. But that was an all vampire dorm, had there been some sort of administrative error, or..?

"Okay here's what we're going to do," Joss murmured half to himself, eyes fixed on the sheet of paper. "Zachary, - " he paused mid-sentence, scanning the piece of paper for the girl's name. Reign. "Reign," he broke off once more, scanning the girl with new eyes as soon as the name touched his lips.

It was an odd name, a pretty one, but an odd one nonetheless. But somehow looking at her it was strangely fitting all the same?

"We're going too.." Zachary intoned helpfully, and Joss nodded, shaking his head briefly to clear it.

"You guys come with me and Francesca to lead this group for now. We'll get them situated and then head to the admissions desk. See if something happened with the assigning process. Either way we'll get you situated."

That settled, Joss threw himself into getting the humans to the dorms as quickly as possible. After all, the sooner this got done, the sooner he could get back to napping.

 

[rosefilm]

The headmistress was rather intimidating, but not as much as the students who sat beside Reign. She pretended she couldn’t hear their whispers, but she most definitely could. Most words were along the lines of questions about why she didn’t take the bus with the rest of them and rumors about her blood type. None were particularly right but the fact they were even guessing was a bit nerve-wracking.

It seems AB negative scholarship kids were treated much better than the others as well but not to the extent she was. She was also given advice from Sacred Heart not to expose her rare blood, and the other students weren’t recommended to anyways. The administration was afraid they would start a sort of ranking within themselves which was their fault actually.

They had ranked them anyhow just on their blood.

When the headmistress began to speak is when she shifted her focus on those around her to the orientation. She wasn’t surprised that the girl who approached her first out of the line of students when she emerged from the cursed black car was the student body President.

Reign liked to think she had good intuition, and that would possibly save her life being on her own now. As for the mention of class, she was surprised they didn’t have gifted courses. She supposed that them attending Sacred Heart was just being gifted itself, as your GPA and other academic proceedings were taken into account when being considered to enroll.

After the orientation had ended, she was concerned as everyone started to request help and run around finding their roommates and forms. She knew she wouldn’t be housed with the other students, and that would definitely cause more rumors to spread if anyone noticed. She let out a sigh, and out of her backpack had taken out a paper that had the room number of where she would be living for the semester. She noticed her hand shaking a bit, and took a deep breath.

Get it together, Reign.

She perked up when she noticed that boy giving directions to stand by each member of the welcome committee if they were in a certain buildings name yet she didn’t recognize either. Octavia, Valentina... she looked down at her paper. Neither name was slammed next to her dorm number.

A boy had come beside her to see her paper, which she gratefully handed him but he seemed more confused than sure of where she was supposed to go. She ended up trailing beside him to man she now identified as “Joss”. It was a cute name, she liked it.

When he spoke her name, she blinked at him as he seemingly lost his train of thought. A half smile spread on her face as Zachary tried to get the rest of his sentence out of him. “Sounds like a plan, thank you.” She nodded her head, looking between them. It had to be some sort of error if they were so puzzled at her placement.

It took around twenty minutes or so to take all the students towards their dorms, and another ten to sit and fight with administration over how there couldn’t have been an error. The headmistress made the dorm assignments herself along with the help of her staff, and if Reign was placed in Domitia then that was where she was meant to stay. “You have the entire room, or well should I say loft, to yourself.” The student who was trying to assist them looked between the two boys then back at her.

“If you guys are still not sure you can make an appointment with the headmistress but she’s rather busy today with the new students.”

A distress look passed over Reigns face at the information, and she sheepishly looked between Zachary and Joss. “Should we just go to this Domitia dorm?” She didn’t want to be of anymore trouble for the two of them.

 

[JustJazzy]

Joss wasn’t exactly sure how he’d become the de facto leader of this group, but it seemed there was very little he could do about it now, with a whole horde of students trailing behind him. Dorm Valentina was only a five-minute walk from the main building, but each step felt like an eternity for Joss who found he simply couldn't tune out the loud, exuberant babble erupting amongst the humans.

He didn’t blame them for being excited though. He supposed Sacred Heart was a nice school by anyone’s standards. It was considered the best of the four known vampiric schools for a reason after all.

The thread of the conversation shifted from excitement into something a little darker just minutes into the trip however as some human voices begin to lower in volume - thank god - conspiring whispers springing from the mix. In spite of himself, Joss’ ears honed on the subject, hearing mention of the new girl - Reign, his brain helpfully subbed in.

“What blood type is she?”

“I don’t know. I think AB- but she got a whole car to herself.”

“Maybe she’s just a rich girl?”

“..or maybe,” cut in a particularly venomous whisper, “she’s just a bitch.”

They’d reached Valentina before Joss could hear anymore of the poisonous gossip springing amongst this mix of students, not that he really wanted to hear anymore of their little theories. Glancing over at the space near the front of the group where Reign stood near a babbling Zachary, Joss fervently hoped she hadn’t heard any of that.

Now that they'd reached the dorm, it was simply a matter of explaining the flooring number system (a concept Joss personally thought was intuitive after an explanation or two). As simple as it had sounded in hindsight, the humans sure didn't think so as leading the fifteen or so students to their dorms took just over twenty minutes. After that was over, Joss didn't bother hiding his frustration as he started back across campus with Zachary and Reign to sort out the matter of the administrative error.

The explanation they received from the student helping out at the help desk was more or less that it wasn't an administrative error, Headmistress Crowley and her team to staff had personally put the dorm list together and all spots were intentional.

Arguing the point didn't seem to be having any traction as the student simply referred them back to the Headmistress with the disclaimer that they'd have to wait.

Massaging his temples with his hands and giving yet another sigh of frustration, Joss turned to look over at Zachary and Reign, seeing what they wanted to do. Instantly, guilt pricked Joss as he noted the distress on Reign's face. She was likely more upset then both of them with this news. She was probably tired, more exhausted then Joss or Zachary really, considering the long road trip she'd likely taken and the bags she was currently dragging around.

That in mind, Joss nodded at her words, bending to lift one of the heavier as Zachary followed suit. They'd get her settled in Domitia, handle the matter of dorm assignments another day when they were more rested.

Even so, he couldn't but exchange a worried glance with Zachary. A human in the dorms with vampires simply spelled out trouble. What if someone went rabid again, this time with no one there to stop them?

"I've got the suite two doors down from yours," Zachary volunteered, catching Joss' eye briefly before meeting Reign's with a sheepish little smile. "if you need anything, I'm just a knock away," Zachary broke off, cheeks flushing. "that's not meant to sound flirtatious at all by the way! Just trying to offer friendship, or like anything you need, you being new and all!"

Turning his head a little to disguise the smile that was beginning to push to his lips at Zachary's expense, Joss briefly looked over her room number before confirming that she was indeed only a floor from his dorm.

"You're on floor 3, that's where all the fancy suites and singles are. Kind of lucked out with dorm assignments, did you?" he quirked an eyebrow in her direction, curious as to why but not pushing on the subject any further. "I'm on floor 2, that's the floor for doubles. Floor 1 is pretty much doubles too, though that's where the main kitchen and lounge area are. Though honestly, it's better if you just see for yourself. We should start heading over anyway, c'mon."

As they walked towards Domitia, Zachary glanced up at the grey sky, belied by the bright, midday sun.

By now, it was almost 12 o'clock. Most of the vampire students were up by now, though Joss noted that they were keeping to themselves, either staying in the dorms or walking to the cafe, observing what few human students had ventured out from afar. Adjusting to the humans being on campus would probably take a couple of days, maybe weeks before the glances turned from hostile to something bordering on tolerance.

Pulling open the grand door to Domitia and holding it open to allow Zachary and the human girl access, both vampires unconsciously assumed protective positions around Reign as they took in the many vampires loitering the first floor lounge and kitchen area. All eyes turned towards them immediately conversations hushing 'till they'd reached near silence. On the bright side, Joss noted that none of the vampires in this dorm seemed primed to pounce. If anything, the eyes appraising the human were curious, some hostile, some impassive.

Zachary passed the first floor's occupants a cheery smile, hand lifting up into a wave that said more or less "nothing to see here, go about your day as usual". Most took the bait, returning to their conversations or respective tasks though a couple of eyes stayed glued to theirs as they continued to the elevator.

As they waited for the elevator to arrive, a familiar dark head - Willard - descended into the space beside Joss. He noted that the guy was looking a lot better than earlier, having finally expelled all that animal blood from his system.

Willard's brown eyes were alight with question as he lightly brushed a hand against Joss' arm by way of delivering a telepathic message.

What's going on? Why are you bringing a human in here?

Joss shrugged dully, trying to signal to the other guy that he'd explain later. Times like these, he wished he was a telepath. Would make things easier, wouldn't it?

Willard studied the human, brown eyes on hers for too long to be considered polite, before he turned to disappear back into the group in the lounge.

Frostiness was unlike the usually warm and affable Will, though Joss figured these circumstances were pushing a lot of people the wrong way. Regardless, Joss made a mental note to talk to the guy about that later. The girl couldn't help being born a human any more than she could being placed in this all vampire dorm.

The elevator arrived and they entered only to exit on floor 3 within a couple of minutes. "You're in 309, I'm in 311," Zachary murmured, voice lowered a bit to disguise that bit of information, though it raised to normal volume after that first sentence. "everyone on this floors pretty nice though people tend to keep to themselves a bit, given that it's a bunch of singles. You've got your own kitchen, bathroom, lounge area, bedroom. And once again, you've got me if you need anything."

They stopped before room 309, Joss for once finding himself a loss for words. He didn't exactly feel comfortable leaving this fragile human to fend for herself amongst this many vampires but he didn't also didn't feel comfortable just inserting himself into her room or anything to keep watch.

He figured he had to have faith in the headmistress, figure that she probably slightly knew what she was doing in placing the girl in this vampire infested dorm. Maybe there was more to the story?

"I'm in dorm 203," he said finally, setting the bag he'd been carrying down next to the unopened door. "if you need anything, I'm just knock away."

He stepped back to allow the girl some space as he started to make a slow exit. "It was nice to meet you, Reign."

 

[rosefilm]

Reign had began to feel like more than a burden at this point. Not to mention her worries concerning her fellow scholarship students whom, as she's already figured by now, don't like her. Whether it was because she got driven in her own vehicle to Sacred Heart or the fact she got a single dorm to herself... it wasn't hard to know that during the walk to Valentina that they were bonding over their growing dislike towards her. She had tried to keep herself busy with Zachary and how much he babbled but it was hard not to overhear the hateful chatter.

Now she was causing them more trouble than she was worth, no matter what dumb blood type she was. It seemed like her first day was definitely not going as planned and she was afraid her grandmother was beginning to actually make sense about this place. Was she really ready? Or was she just kidding herself into thinking she was?

She wasn't sure what was so bad about her staying in the Domitia dorm, she knew she wouldn't be housed specifically with the other students but she was sure it would have been the same vicinity... although something was telling her this was better. Steering clear of her fellow scholarship kids was probably what was best at the moment. Maybe it would all blow over, and they'd see that she wasn't such a bad person at all.

Yet of course, there was always that negative voice in the back of her head discouraging her otherwise.

She bit her lip hard, noticing how frustrated Joss was getting with the situation. She'd find a way to get this settled, the following day after her first classes of the semester she'd try and attempt to make an appointment with the headmistress. If her blood type was so important than it wouldn't take her long to get a hold of her, or so she hoped.

When the boys had bent down and helped her with her bags, she let out a breath of relief and a thanks. Dragging her luggage around was just making her more tired than she already was and she found herself grateful that she packed light. Reign had never been much of an over-packer anyhow, she rarely ever left her hometown.

It was more of choice really, she never had a desire to go off and explore more of what the world had to offer. She was young as well, so there hadn't been much for her to do on her own without her grandparents. They were pushing on into their 60s, and it would just make her feel bad pushing them around everywhere because she wanted to explore. Sacred Heart was her gateway to that sort of world without being a burden to those she loved - just her own self.

"That's really sweet of you, thanks."

She smiled at Zachary. He seemed like a good guy, a nice friend to have if she had the capabilities of acquiring such specimens. He was also quite funny, lifting her spirits about her dorm situation back on the walk to Valentina and even now trying to still be of assistance to her in this time of little need. It wasn't all that serious, just a bit of hiccup she wouldn't let hold her back.

Reign couldn't help but chuckle at his blush. "It's okay, I wouldn't dare think otherwise. I appreciate all of the help... truly." Her facial expression was genuine, and boys weren't something she was going to be focusing on this semester. She had enough on her plate and adding a love interest would just throw everything off the table.

She turned her attention to Joss whom was commenting on her luck. "I wouldn't say that... I kind of expected to be housed alone and somewhere really nice. When I sent in my application, Sacred Heart went crazy offering me a lot of living expenses and such. It's got something to do with this." She tapped on her wrist, where a pulsating vein was popping out as they usually did from time to time on anyone. She was giving a hint to her blood type, but she'd stick to the advice the administration gave her about keeping it a secret.

"Don't even worry about showing me all that stuff. I can explore it all later, I have to learn to get around on my own anyways." She shook her head, she didn't want to request anymore aid from Joss or Zachary. It was time she started being the independent girl she had been daydreaming about during that 2 hour drive.

As they passed through such mentioned areas, it wasn't hard to feel that every student they passed had their eyes on them. It didn't seem like Sacred Heart students took to newcomers well - or as well as their welcome committee did. This was all normal to her though, even with the shift in the air, because who wouldn't want to get a good look at one of the new students?

During the wait for the elevator, she took the chance to rest against the wall beside it for a minute or two. She walked the tall dark boy stand beside Joss, and the interaction between them was definitely off. It wasn't the way it looked... but they way it felt to her. Whatever it was, she had felt it earlier back before and a bit during orientation. Not to mention the way his friend, or whoever he was, held her gaze. It sent a shiver down her spine.

When the ding of the elevator sounded, she pushed herself off of the wall and walked inside with her guides, and exited a minute or so later onto floor 3. She was keeping mental notes of everything she saw and most importantly how she got here. "I'll try not to bother you too much, but no promises." She gave him a wink. It was true, she'd probably exhaust every attempted solution of a problem before she went to ask for help from him. That wasn't just her trying to do this on her own, but her selflessness came into play as well almost all of the time.

She turned to Joss after he had placed her bag down, giving him a warm smile. It was as if the warmth radiated off of her, her sweet demeanor emanating. "I'm sorry for being such trouble. If there's anything I can do to repay you for your help, let me know. I'm also just a knock away." She said rather cheekily before pulling out her key and unlocking the door. She lifted her duffel bag after rolling the suitcase inside, taking one last look at him before waving and closing the door.

She threw everything to the side, and leaned against the door sinking to the floor.

This was going to be harder than she thought.

 

[JustJazzy]

Joss couldn't help the smile that begin to tug at the corners of his lips, an involuntary response to the warmth simply emanating off that sweet, nice smile.

It was kind of odd, really. But after just a couple of conversations and glances, he was quickly finding himself genuinely kind of... liking this girl, if that wasn't too strong a word. He hadn't expected humans to be.. this personable, this relatable in a sense. Actually he wasn't sure what he'd expected, but it certainly wasn't this.

At a loss of words for once as Reign finished speaking, Joss swallowed hard, hand lifting in a farewell sort-of wave as his eyes lingered on her small form just as she disappeared behind the door with a dull thud.

And it was suddenly just Zachary and Joss now in the floor 3 hallway.

"I don't know if - " Zachary raised a hand to absently-mindedly scratch at his ginger head. "should we actually leave her here?"

Joss shrugged dully. "I don't think we have much of a choice. Besides, I doubt anyone wants to risk outing us just for a taste of human blood right from the source, right?"

He wasn't sure whether he was trying to convince Zachary or himself with that last sentence, and it hadn't appeared to convince either of them, instead only stressing the point further if the concerned lines begin to knit across Zachary's forehead were any implication.

"Right," the ginger managed, forcing a grim sort of smile to his lips.

"Right," Joss echoed. Stressing about this wasn't going to accomplish much he figured. They could check on Reign in a couple of hours probably, listen for any strong dissent amongst the vampire students. Apart from doing those two things, there wasn't much that they could do apart from sitting outside her door and probably freaking her out further. As he made his way down the steps, Joseph tried to placate himself with that fact. There wasn't much he could, not much he could do.

Before long he found himself back at his room, Joss heaving a sigh as he pushed the door open.

The room was dark, empty as his roommate was probably still downstairs, probably gossiping with everyone else. Joss knew if he went downstairs, he'd probably be host to a ton of questions from basically everyone who had seen him head in with the human. Not exactly in the mood for subjecting himself to be that sort of public entertainment, Joss instead threw himself across his mattress, pulling the covers up to his chin and shutting his eyes.

He'd barely gotten in a couple of minutes of that dreamless sort of stasis before the door to the room was opening again, voices were flooding his safe space. Eyes still closed, Joss picked out Willard's voice, accompanied by a couple of others that correspondingly hushed as the light went on.

"Is he - " "Why is he in bed - " "It's like 12:30 -"

"He's faking it." Willard's voice determinedly cut in, before the covers were abruptly yanked off of him.

Dark eyes flickered open as something akin to shock passed over Joss' features. That was.. rude. Sitting up as shock quickly morphed into annoyance, Joss glared at the four who had arranged themselves around the room in varying positions.

First was Willard, a smug expression sat across his lips as he folded himself down on the edge of Joss' bed. Next were Max and his roommate, Steve, arranged at the edge of the room, looking uncomfortable but undoubtedly. And then there was Coraline, perched on a beanie bag, her pale arms folded, eyes narrowed.

"Talk, okay? We just want to know why she's here," Coraline started, rather aggressively leaning forward with each word. "instead of with the other humans in their pig pens. Is she a supernatural, is she rich? Did she call in a favor?"

Joss understood where the questions were coming from, as he had them himself. The fact that they thought he had any answers though...

His mind abruptly shot back to something odd the girl had done in the midst of their hike back to Domitia, pulling back her sleeve to point at a one of her veins, as if the blood within it had something to do with all of this.

Not that that was much of a clue, all the vampire students were kind of distantly aware that the humans had been brought on for their odd/rare blood types. But as none of them were allowed to partake of any of the human's blood (but then that of course tempted the question of where was it going?) it hadn't seemed much cause for concern.

Or was it actually a clue of something, and he was just missing the obvious?

Eyes flickering up to pass over each of the room's respective members, Joss found himself not wanting to put that into words. So he just gave them the most basic version of the story instead, - his being a part of the welcome committee, the fact that her dorm assignment was likely a mistake, etc. With each word he could feel the bits of annoyance spiking through the room from person to person. It was almost like they knew there was something more to the story, something being withheld.

Nonetheless, when he'd finished talking Max was the first to go, followed by a skeptical Steve. And then it was just Joss, Willard, and Coraline.

The silence that took to the room wasn't an awkward one; it would be weird if it was awkward considering that these two were the people he knew the most, his closest friends for like, forever.

"C'mon, man," came Will's voice finally, voice cracking with an aggravated undertone, "there has to be more. I know there's more. Didn't she feel kind of weird to you? Smell kind of... weird?"

"Dude," Joss managed to push a wry to his lips, even as his thoughts rose in a disorganized mash at those words. But the protective instinct in him overruled any need to discuss any theories or conspiracies about this girl, even with his closest friends. "she's just a human. She smelled weird, yea. But it's cause she's kind of a walking blood-bag." he let a disbelieving laugh fall from his lips upon concluding those last words, let his eyes narrow with judgment as they fell upon Willard.

Will looked away, a self-conscious hand rubbing circles across his arm.

"Okay," Coraline finally said, meeting both of their eyes in a decided fashion. "if you say she's normal and the situation is normal and everything, we believe you," she let those words hang in the air before launching into the next subject. "Also, speaking of normal.. It's kind of a little past lunchtime. You guys hungry?"

 

[rosefilm]

The first night in her dorm was filled with relentless packing and re-organizing furniture. It wasn't to say that Reign hated whoever styled the room... but placement definitely wasn't one of their strong suits. She didn't have much, or anything at all than what they gave her, to decorate the room so she sent pictures to her grandmother in order for her to pick out some nice knick-knacks and such to go on the walls and shelves. Beloved was an interior designer before she retired with her husband, whom was a handy-man, so she had constructed her granddaughters bedroom since she was born.

By the time she was done moving and placing the furniture and some odd decorations, it was well past midnight. The cafeteria was supposedly open twenty-four hours, and she definitely didn't question why. She was absolutely starving but incredibly sweaty after all the activity. So, before heading off on a food escapade, she showered and changed her clothes.

Nothing special, after she was done eating she'd retire back and be up within a few hours for her first day of classes. Reign adorned some athletic-ish looking black shorts, a white spaghetti strapped cropped top, fuzzy slippers (courtesy of her suite), and a poopy jacket she wore almost always whenever it was cold. It was a bit chilly during the night, especially in the beginning of fall.

She set off, an allowance card that was waiting for her on the bedside table which she had pushed and found after trying to place her bed right under the large double windows in the room portion of her small loft.

It was quite a walk to the main building, passing by the main lounge and kitchen part of the Domitia structure. That area was mostly for snacks, or so she saw and not full meals. Whatever they served there she knew wouldn't get her the least bit full with all the calories she just burned playing interior designer. Once she had gotten to the cafeteria, there were a few students lounging around. Definitely not anyone from her scholarship program, thankfully, but they stared at her oddly nonetheless.

It seemed whatever this X blood she had within her earning everything she did was proving to be a bit troublesome. Though, their attention shifted back amongst themselves almost immediately after her arrival, and that put her at ease. Now if those same kids from before had been grabbing a late night snack, she'd probably have to make her dinner takeaway.

She had settled after observing all her options on creamy chicken spinach pasta, and whatever juice they had sloshing around in the machines by the utensils. After paying with her card, even the worker gave her a funny look. "Are you from an important bloodline or something?" She tilted her head at her curiously. It wasn't envious, surprisingly.

"No. Just a scholarship kid."

"They don't give these to those scholarship kids though. There's has a certain money limit..."

"And what about mine?"

"Yours has no limit at all." She looked at closely, specifically a serial code in the back before handing it back to her. "I suggest you keep that well hidden, or on you at all times." She turned back to her register, and Reign blinked at her a few times before taking her tray and finding a seat in an area with barely anyone sitting near it. Everything just kept getting weirder and weirder, but she supposed she should be happy about it.

As Joss had told her, she was quite the lucky girl.

 

[JustJazzy]

Getting lunch with his friends had been a pleasant enough affair.

Free to distract himself from his darker thoughts, Joss had busied himself with the task of stuffing his face and just talking about nothing with his friends. Laughs and blood bags were strewn across the table before all was said and done. But all good things have to come to an end eventually, and end they did as he soon found himself back in his dorm, Will gone for the library and Coraline her own dorm.

He figured now was as good enough a time as any to get some work done.

School would be starting up again tomorrow after all, just like any other Monday morning. So he busied himself with flipping through the pages of his world history book, buried himself in the task of prepping for tomorrows test. The next time he looked up at the window, the sky had dimmed to a dull black, stars were beginning to pepper the sky. And he was hungry if the growl from his stomach was any connotation.

He rose from the desk, stretching his arms in the air and letting his fingers wriggle as circulation was restored anew. That done, Joss let his thoughts turn to the more important task, getting some dinner. Pushing his school card into his pant pocket and throwing on the school sweater from earlier today, Joss let the door shut behind him as he made his way down the steps. In spite of himself as he headed to the first level, his thoughts abruptly turned to the girl upstairs - had Reign settled okay, was she being harassed by any of the students?

Joss pushed those thoughts away, unsure on where they'd even come from. He was trying to destress, decompress. And Reign was probably fine, honestly. He should just let the school staff do their job and he would do his. He didn't have the time to be worrying about a random human girl after all -

Pausing momentarily upon opening the cafeteria doors as the aforementioned girl stepped into his line of vision, Joss pushed away the ironic laughter that was threatening to burst from his lips. He shook his head to clear it, forcing his eyes forward as he made his way towards the lunch line, taking just a tuna sandwich (one of the few human foods he could even stand to eat) and a fruit smoothie.

Inwardly, his tastebuds called for something a little more scintillating than this bland human food.

But restrictions on blood bags due to the entrance of the human students meant that the vampire students would have to settle for just three blood bags a day, and never in the plain sight of the cafeteria.

While that portion was more than blood enough in theory, it was certainly an adjustment the privileged students of Sacred Heart were not taking kindly too, though many were adjusting. And Joss - despite struggling with the changes initially in the first month - was joining that growing number.

But the delectable smell that was beginning to make itself known in the seemingly unoccupied portion of the seating area was making that.. a little difficult now. Following the smell and rounding a single corner, Joss found himself planted, tray in hand, square in front of the very human he'd been hoping not to run into - Reign.

Very quickly realizing that he was making it awkward with the staring, Joss hurried through a conversational speel even as an embarrassed sort-of smile played on his lips. "Sorry, I uh - You don't mind if I sit here, do you?"

 

[rosefilm]

Most of the time Reign had spent in the cafeteria had been switching between playing with her food and being on her phone. She had pulled up the notes app, pushing against the screen a few times, and sighing. It was quiet enough in this space to work on something she had been wanting to for a while, but writers block was more prominent now more than ever.

What most didn't know about her was she had quite the knack for writing poems. That was sort of what she aspired to be: a poet. It was sort of unrealistic, and she had already told her grandparents she'd go and be some sort of figure in the medical field. She gave them options of her becoming a doctor, nurse, etc. but they knew that's not what she wanted to do.

Her grandfather was very adamant about people following their dreams, and even though she wanted to put them in a high class apartment or somewhere by the beach, he fought her every time on doing what she truly wanted to do. It didn't matter if she was smart enough to do it or not, because she was just as intelligent to make it in the poetic world.

Though, her self-conscious thoughts were currently getting the better of her. If she couldn't get out of this funk and write a couple lines, what's there to say she'd ever be able to?

I am a child
of the Moon
being raised by the Sun

Reign could feel a set of eyes on her, and it was with a different energy than the many before. She blinked a few times, looked up and saw Joss which caused a surprised expression to bestow upon her face. "Joss, hey.." She tilted her head as he asked if he could sit with her. A smile was strewn across her face as she answered. "Not at all."

She didn't expect to run into him so soon, but she certainly wasn't complaining. "What are you doing up so late?" She asked curiously, unaware of the fact she was becoming quite the night owl herself.

[

 

[JustJazzy]

Being this close now, it was evident that Reign was indeed the source of that delicious smell.

That was odd, especially considering how the other human students - despite smelling very good themselves - didn't smell as strong nor as fragrant as she did. Why was that - did it have to do with her blood as she'd been indicating? Or maybe she was just wearing some strong sort of new perfume? Although curiosity pushed for him to seek an answer from Reign herself, Joss wondered if she would even know the answers to his questions, and just how embarrassing it would be if she didn't. Leaning on the safe side, he decided against asking.

That same warm smile from before took to the girls lips and Joss relaxed in spite of himself, embarrassment melting away as he took her up on her invitation, sitting his tray down in the space opposite her. It was easy to ignore the smell for now, especially since he'd eaten a full meal, his need for blood for the day had been long since abatted. Even so, Joss vaguely wondered just how easy it would be to ignore if he went a day without getting his share of blood, would he even be able to control himself?

Cocercing a shaky half-smile to lips at the girls question, Joss forced himself away from those thoughts, instead focusing on the subtle hypocrisy of her question.

"I could ask you the same thing, don't you know there's all sorts of evil creatures wandering around campus this late? You should be more careful," in spite of himself he couldn't help the little chuckle strewn in his first sentence. "real talk though, I was up studying all night, waiting for my roommate to get back before I got dinner. But now it's like what, - 12 o'clock? - and he's still not back. Guess I should be kinda used to that though.

Anyway, what are you doing up? Didn't want to sleep?"

 

[rosefilm]

Reign couldn't help but chuckle at his sentiment of why she shouldn't be out late. He sounded like her grandmother when she was younger after she played past the time the street lights came on. She wasn't afraid of the dark, and that was rare for a child. Wade would always hype and indulge in that aspect of hers, watching scary movies with her in the dark and such.

Beloved couldn't stand it, and would always go to bed earlier than the two. Then the next day pull on her husbands ear for having their granddaughter stay up so late that she slept in and was late for school the next day. That usually pushed their creepy movie nights more towards the weekend. "I'm not afraid of the dark, nor anything lurking in it."

Her tone was filled with more confidence than the words could carry.

She looked down at her phone at the mention of time, and nodded her head. "Almost 1 am. He's got a girlfriend or something he's out this late with?" It was more of a joke than anything. She didn't know what else could possess someone, other than unpacking and settling in, to stay up so late and without dinner too. She did have a question though, regarding schoolwork. "Studying... huh? Are the classes here insanely hard? I don't want to end up going to my first day of classes and running away screaming."

She relaxed in her chair, and plopped a piece of pasta in her mouth. She chewed slowly, and swallowed before answering. "I didn't like the way my dorm was set up, so I spent like four hours rearranging the whole thing. Then I got hungry... and here I am. I don't see any other scholarship kids around, they're probably doing the smart thing and actually sleeping so they're not dead in the morning like I'll be."

[[/di

 

[JustJazzy]

Her answer to his teasing comment about the dark was a little more confident than he'd expected, but he couldn't really blame her. She was just a human after all, how could she know that there was more darkness to the world then she'd ever know?

At the mention of the corrected time, Joss followed her gaze down to her phone, eyes lingering on the bit of technology for a long moment. He hadn't seen a phone in ages, considering that they were banned across campus. Occasionally someone would sneak that bit of contraband into the dorms, but most preferred to serve their time at Sacred Heart with as few demerits on there record as possible. And phones, or unapproved technology of any kind, were a lot of demerits.

Even so, he wasn't sure whether the human students were having that same rule enforced on them. Maybe not?

Moving on at the mention of his roommate, Joss rolled his eyes, a good-natured smile playing on his lips.

"Girlfriend? Nah.. Will's probably just out partying it up. He does that a lot. Somehow manages to make it to class on time too," he shrugged. At her mention of classes, Joss was reminded yet again of that good-old history test coming up. A stressed sort of sigh bubbling from his lips at the thought.

"They're not terrible if you know how to portion your time? Though I will say the English, and basically all the Science classes here are insane with the workload. And you probably won't be able to run away screaming, probably just walk away considering how many books you'll have piled ontop you," he said only half-jokingly.

As she begin to eat her food, Joss was reminded of his own uneaten tuna sandwich and smoothie. Stealing a glance at the sandwich and nudging a flaccid, sad piece of lettuce dangling at the edge of one of the pieces of bread, Joss tried to muster some enthusiasm for the food he was going to have to pretend to like for the rest of the semester. Steeling himself for the taste, he lifted one of the sandwich quarters to take a tiny bite of the edge.

Bread, mayo, and tuna. It was just as.. bland as he'd expected.

He set the quarter back down delicately with a little grimace, finishing it off with a sip of the brighter, more flavorful fruit juice before resuming their conversation.

"You rearranged your whole dorm? That's," he paused just to laugh a little. "that's really extra, but whatever makes you comfortable I guess?"

Remembering the day he'd first settled on campus, Joss vaguely recalled his moving in day to have consisted of very few but very basic tasks. Like making up the bed, putting up a few family pictures, unpacking a little bit before giving up almost entirely. Even now, five months in, and his room still was in an in-between state. Reign obviously had a lot more drive than he did.

"your always free to come rearrange mine, if you want? My roommate and I still haven't decided which corner of the room is whose so its pretty disorganized in there. And you're probably better off not seeing any scholarship kids. They don't seem the - " he broke off to meet her eyes before looking down quickly as his tone shifted from teasing to something a little more serious. "no offense. They didn't seem the nicest?"

 

[rosefilm]

"Mmmm, I like English. I think I wouldn't mind that, but as for science I'm a bit dodgy on the subject." Reign admitted, she just wasn't as gifted in it. Mathematics was alright, History she did with ease... she had her strengths and weaknesses like anyone else. She shook her head and let out a stressed sigh. "I shouldn't be torturing myself now. I'll just cross that bridge tomorrow and hopefully not fall off of it."

She had an hour gap between each class considering there was only 3 a day. Six classes in total, and each day alternated between A and B, giving students time to study and complete homework as well. Those sort of opportunities she'd definitely take advantage of. Math, Science, English, History, P.E, and an artistic type of class which she opted for creative writing in hopes of getting some inspiration for her poetry.

A long shot, but she had to try. She couldn't be stuck with the same three lines, or two depending on whenever she got tired of one and deleted it.

She pouted at his reaction to her being sort of a freak when it came to her living space. "I have a specific way I like things set up, it's weird but now I sort of feel more at home? I made it as comfortable of a living space as I could, everything was just so unconventionally placed!" She shook her head. She also conducted such needless activities when she had a lot of anxiety pent up and needed a way to get her mind off of everything. "It kept me busy... from thinking about how I'm going to survive tomorrow being talked about everywhere I go."

She frowned a bit, but it soon disappeared when Joss had offered to let her rearrange and decorate him and his roommates dorm. She'd never say no to something like that, or well, pass it up. "I'd love to do that! Whenever we both have free time, I'll come around." She grinned. She wanted to make friends anyways, and he didn't seem like he was so bad. He was probably the kindest person, excluding Zachary, she had met here. The President was nice, but she wasn't sure if that was her being fake or real.

At the mention of the scholarship kids, she looked off to the side for a moment and then back down at her plate, pushing the contents of it around. "Yeah, they're definitely not the friendliest. Once they found out I didn't take the trip here with them, and had my own single dorm away from their buildings... I've heard a couple things. I'm trying not to let it get to me, I won't let them drive me away just because my blood is rarer than theirs." She pursed her lips, looking up at him for a moment.

[[/di[/div