Author’s Note: Well, it’s an update. And if you’re still here, you rock. Seriously. I had some MAJOR writer’s block with this one, but I think things will get easier from here on out...hopefully... What’s to be said about this chapter...? Umm...nothing, really...plot thickening XD Things are starting to happen! YAY!!

Story Warnings: Male/male innuendoes, occasional swearing, some violence, kissing later on

Chapter Warnings: Maybe some swearing? I dunno :P

“We’re choosing our clubs today.”

Llel looked up from the book she was reading. “Huh?”

Quaz put a blue earring in his lobe, securing the back. “Clubs. Sometime after lunch we have to go down to the gym. All the school clubs have booths set up, and you sign up for what you want to do.”

“Really?” Llel sat up, excitement on her face. “Cool!”

He shrugged, tucking an orange into his pocket. “I guess...”

Llel slid off the her bed, putting her book on her night stand. “So what are you signing up for?”

The daemon sat on his bed, leaning back on his hands. “The duelling club and the daemonic duelling club. Maybe something else.”

“That sounds like fun. But daemonic? Don’t humans kind of hate daemons...?”

“Yes, but they love our duelling.” He dropped down on the couch. “This kind is different from regular duelling. Both use magick, true, but the rules and types of magick differ. Daemons tend to use more elemental magick and the unique powers we’re born with. Humans aren’t born with unique powers, although you each tend to have a specialty. Of course, since it’s humans fighting the daemon way, they’ll focus on their specialty and the elements.”

“And the rules...?”

He smiled somewhat deviantly. “Anything goes. The fight ends when one side surrenders—” he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, “—or dies.”

She grimaced and rubbed her head. “Er...I think I’ll stick with regular duelling...”

Quaz laughed. “Wimp.”

“Am not!” She turned the bathroom, changing the subject. “Anyway, I’m going to have a bath before lunch.”

Her roommate nodded vaguely and picked up one of her books sitting on the coffee table. For some reason, he had a habit of reading her novels when she left the room. She found it funny, especially since she mostly read romances.

After making sure that the bathroom door was securely locked, Llel started the water running and undressed. One of the best feelings in the world was unwrapping a tightly bound chest. She threw her clothes in a corner, then brushed out her hair, waiting for the tub to fill. Finally, she turned off the taps and slid happily into the hot, bubble filled water. She reached for her razor (she didn’t care that she was posing as a boy...there was no way she was going hairy!), but her hand met empty air. Llel opened her eyes and blinked in confusion. Her razor was gone.

“Quaz! Have you seen my razor?!” she shouted through the closed door.

“You mean that pink plastic thing with the flowers all over it?” he called back.

“Yeah!”

“It’s out here on your dresser.”

Dammit, she thought. No way was she going out there like this.

“You can just use mine!” he added. “It’s on the ledge.”

What did he need to shave? Maybe his face... She looked at the indicated spot and saw a shiny silver razor sitting there. Oh, pretty!

She grinned, picking it up. “Thanks!”

“No problem.”

Humming, Llel went about shaving her armpits and legs. There were suds everywhere by the time she was finished, including the floor. She idly rubbed her legs and blinked in surprise, staring at them. Holy crap! They were so smooth! She looked at the shiny razor with renewed respect. Maybe she’d buy a men’s razor instead... It’d probably be a good idea, anyway, considering her situation.

Llel set the razor down and reached for her shampoo, happy that it, too, wasn’t outside the bathroom. As she washed her hair, she mulled over her current situation, her brow furrowed slightly. Things weren’t going as smoothly as she’d hoped. Actually, things were getting way out of hand. When she’d first found out she was going to be enrolling in an all-boys’ school, Llel had figured it’d be a piece of cake fitting in. She obviously hadn’t take into account her girliness level (which far exceeded any boy’s) or her obvious lack of knowledge in male behaviour (at least she basically knew how their minds worked when it came to girls).

She sighed, sinking lower in the water. How was she supposed to get herself out of this hole she had dug? Due to her carelessness, she had managed to make the whole school think she was a gay cross-dresser.

There was a bright side to this, however: since she was in an all-boys’ school, everyone assumed she was male, therefore preserving her “I-Am-Actually-A-Girl-With-A-Very-Sore-Chest” secret. That thought made her giggle.

She sat up, hitting the surface of the water with a resolute fist. That was it. She was going to work her hardest at becoming more like a boy, even if it killed her. In fact, she was going to work at it so hard, she would become the manliest guy in school! She was going to make herself into a new woman...er...man. Boy. Whatever.

Llel quickly rinsed herself off, then climbed out of the tub, shivering at the cooler air. She grabbed her towels and dried herself off, squeezing as much water as possible out of her short brown hair. Made blow-drying it a lot easier (not that it really mattered, since she didn’t have a blow-dryer with her). After she was sufficiently dry, she reluctantly set about binding herself again. She had gotten better at it since she arrived at Briarvale, and could now do it pretty fast. Still, it was annoying and inconvenient to have a tenser bandage pinned around her chest almost all hours of the day. And when it got hot, she itched. She stuck out her tongue and pulled her clothes back on, adjusting them to disguise her feminine curves. At least these new clothes hid the wrappings well...and the shorter hair did make her appear more masculine...

Since the damp strands just reached the nape of her neck, she didn’t bother putting her hair up. But there was no way she was leaving her earrings out. She didn’t want the holes to close up, no matter how girly they made her look. Besides, she had gotten the cartilage on her right ear pierced just a month ago. She compensated by putting in the small hoops that her brother had given her for her birthday, and a silver stud in her cartilage. She’d seen guys around here wearing that kind of thing, so she figured she’d fit in.

Humming, Llel tidied up the bathroom and returned to the main room, where Quaz was perched on his wardrobe, eating oranges.

“What are you doing up there?” she asked, tilting her head and putting her hands on her hips. She thought better of it and crossed her arms instead.

The daemon shrugged. “I was craving oranges. And since you’re allergic, I thought I’d get as far away as I could without leaving the room so you wouldn’t have a reaction.”

Llel looked at him in surprise. “Uh...thanks.” Normally he didn’t care if she was in the room or not. Maybe he was warming up to her...?

Quaz shrugged. “Whatever.”

...never mind.

“Anyway, are you ready to go? It’s time for lunch and then we have to head to the gym.”

Llel nodded and pulled a pair of strappy sandals from under her bed, slipping them onto her feet (which were polish-free at the urging of Jaz). She paused, studying the shoes, then shook her head and replaced them with the pair she had bought on the weekend. Her friends had picked them out from the men’s department, even though finding her size had been a bitch. Guys’ feet were so big! At least they matched her outfit.

Quaz finished off the last of his orange and gracefully jumped to the floor. He licked his fingers and stuck his feet into his shoes, not bothering to tighten the laces. Llel rolled her eyes and followed him out the door. If he tripped, she was just going to laugh at him.

The large room was buzzing as the guys talked excitedly to each other, almost all the conversations revolving around different clubs. Llel got in line with Quaz, waiting to pick up their lunch. It took a lot longer than usual, and the girl felt frazzled by the time she and her roommate headed to their usual table. Suykhi was already there, picking at his stir-fry with a pair of chopsticks.

“Hey, Suykhi!” said Llel happily, sliding into the seat next to him.

He looked up and gave a small smile. “Hi.”

“What happened to your cheek?” asked Quaz, sitting down.

The sylphaen’s hand flew up to the scratch on his cheek, his face flushing slightly.

“Uh, nothing. I just hit it on the edge of a doorframe.”

Quaz raised an eyebrow at that. “You really think I’d believe that?”

The bluehead frowned. “Well, it’s the truth.”

“Stop lying.” Quaz sounded strangely irritable. “You tried pulling this yesterday with your eye.” The bruise hadn’t faded.

“I’m not lying!” Suykhi yelled, jumping up and drawing the attention of several tables nearby.

“Calm down,” soothed Llel, sending a reproachful look at her roommate. She put her hands on the boy’s shoulders and gently pushed him back down in his chair. “He didn’t mean it.”

Suykhi’s face was still red, and his breath still short, but at least he was quiet. He grumpily poked at his meal, refusing to look at either of his friends. The daemon was frowning in suspicion, but he didn’t question the smaller boy anymore. Llel shifted uncomfortably, looking between the two. She was worried about Suykhi, too, but she didn’t think it was a good idea to confront him in public.

“Uh...so, um, Suykhi...what clubs are you joining?” she asked brightly, trying to lighten the mood.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I want to see what’s there first before deciding.”

Llel nodded. “That’s what I’m doing, too. But I’m definitely joining the duelling club!”

“That sounds like it could be fun...”

“It really is! My brother and I used to duel at home when we had free time. I loved it!”

He finally smiled at her, the spat earlier already forgotten. Even Quaz looked a bit happier. Then again, it was always hard to tell with him...

Suykhi looked at Llel carefully. “You look different...”

“Got a haircut and new clothes.” She smiled, running her fingers through her shorn locks.

“You’ve got to be the only guy I’ve ever met that sounds so happy about shopping,” Quaz mumbled, sipping his water.

Llel stuck her tongue out. “We all have hobbies.”

“Yours is a rather girly one,” muttered the daemon, raising a thin black eyebrow at her.

Llel had to admit, he did have a point. Guess that was another thing she’d have to work at while becoming a boy. Ugh, that probably meant new hobbies.

“Quaz,” she said suddenly, “what are your hobbies?”

“Uh, I dunno...” He looked at the ceiling. “Duelling...playing the flute...reading...eating oranges...” His red eyes flicked back to her. “Why?”

“Can you help me find new hobbies?”

He raised a black eyebrow. “Um...okay...why?”

She shrugged. “I want to become more manly.”

He shook his head, brow furrowed in thought. “The duelling club should help. This school takes it pretty seriously, and everyone generally admires the good duellers.”

She perked up. “Really?”

He nodded. “The stronger the magick, the stronger the man. And from what I’ve seen, your magick’s pretty strong.”

Llel speared a tomato with her fork. “Alright, what else?”

“Lighten up on the romance books.”

She pouted. “But I like them... Besides, you read them, too!”

The daemon looked at her. “Only when I’m bored and there’s nothing else to read.” He ran his slender white fingers through his raven hair. “If you’re going to read them, hide them in our room and read other books in public.”

“Like...?”

“Um...sci-fi and horror. Mystery. Anything that doesn’t have pink on it.”

Llel sighed. “Okay, I’ll try.”

“And avoid girly jewellery.” He glanced at her ears. “Although those look alright.”

“Same with floppy sandals,” added Suykhi, joining in on the advice. He glanced at her feet. “But it looks like you’ve already solved that one.”

Llel sighed, eating another tomato. Becoming a guy was hard.

“At least your clothes are better,” said Suykhi cautiously. “I mean, we all know you’re a guy, but it was hard to tell, the way you looked before.”

“First impressions are important,” said Quaz, playing with his sapphire earring.

“Bah.”

Quaz grinned at her grumpy tone.

The trio finished eating and put away their dishes. The announcement for the clubs came soon after that, so they headed down to the gym. The halls were pretty crowded and Llel and Suykhi fought to keep up with Quaz, who was much better at manoeuvring his way through the bunches of students than they. Both were out of breath by the time they reached the huge gym.

“What’s wrong with you?” asked the completely unruffled Quaz, raising an eyebrow at his panting friends.

“You walk...way too fast...” gasped Suykhi, leaning against the wall.

“Do I?” wondered Quaz, completely oblivious.

Both of his friends nodded emphatically, cheeks flushed.

“Found you!” crowed a familiar voice.

The trio looked over their shoulders to see Nial and Seur walking towards them (well, the latter was. The brunette was kind of...skipping). Llel waved, grinning. Nial was quickly becoming her partner-in-crime, despite Seur’s efforts to keep them out of trouble.

“C’mon, Llel, let’s go find some clubs!” exclaimed Nial, hooking his arm through hers. “We’ve gotta do some of the same ones!”

“Alright,” she laughed, allowing herself to be dragged into the gym. Their friends just watched them, shaking their heads.

Rows upon rows of booths were set up, displaying every club imaginable. Llel gaped in amazement, looking around. Archery, swimming, arts and crafts, fencing, chess...

“Oh, there’s duelling!” she said, pulling Nial over to the far side of the gym. “I have to sign up for that!”

“Duelling, eh?” Nial studied the booth, tapping his chin. “Sounds like it could be fun...”

“It is,” replied Llel, writing her name on the sign-up sheet. “You should try it.”

He shrugged. “Sure, why not.” He wrote his name below hers, then glanced around. His green eyes lit up. “Oh, they have school band!”

“Er, I’ll hafta skip on this one,” said Llel, waiting for him to sign up. “I can’t play anything.”

“Boo.” He stuck his tongue out. “What about the school play?”

“Play?” she repeated, curious.

“Well, yeah, every school has to have a play! Want to sign up?”

“Umm...”

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun!”

“I don’t know...”

He looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “Please?”

Sighing, she held up her hands. “Okay, okay, I’ll sign up with you.”

“Yay!”

Shaking her head, she followed him to the theatre booth set up in the corner. She was surprised at the number of names already on the list, and looked at Nial questioningly. He grinned.

“There’s a pretty big group of drama kids here,” he explained, writing down their names. “Once the play starts, you’ll see.”

That was kind of...unexpected...

“Anything else you want to sign up for?” he asked, pushing his shaggy brown hair off his face.

She shrugged. “Let’s look around for a bit.”

“Sure.”

There really were a lot of booths, and Llel began feeling overwhelmed before they’d even gone down one row.

“How can one school have so many clubs?” she asked, amazed.

“Lots of different hobbies, I guess. Plus, it’s a combination of magick clubs, and regular clubs.” Nial led her down the next aisle, past a crowd of guys hanging around in front of the football booth. “At a girls’ school, I doubt there’d be these many.”

Llel nodded thoughtfully. He was probably right about that.

Something caught her eye. She turned a bit and saw a strange sign.

Daemon Duelling.

This must have been what Quaz was talking about...

“Hold on, Nial, I want to check something out...”

She walked over to the booth, curious. The sign-up sheet had a few names on it, none that she knew. Hmm...

“Ah, so you found it.”

She jumped at glared reproachfully at Quaz over her shoulder.

“Don’t do that.”

“So, gonna sign up?”

Biting her lip, she looked back at the booth. It had sounded pretty dangerous...but there was also the pull of a new kind of duelling... Finally, she nodded.

“Alright. But only if you do.”

He laughed. “Of course I am!”

Taking the pen out of her hand, the daemon quickly scrawled his name, then added hers below it. He looked at their friends who had rejoined them.

“Anyone else?”

They shook their heads.

“I don’t have that much stamina,” remarked Nial with a crooked grin. Seur nodded in agreement.

“Suykhi?” Llel looked at him, eyebrows raised.

He nibbled his lip. “I’m not sure if I’d be any good at it...”

“Well, why not give it a try for now?” suggested Quaz. “You can always quit later if you don’t like it.”

“Okay...I guess...”

The sylphaen’s name was added to the list with a flourish. It reminded Llel strangely of signing a devil’s contract...

“Oh, Seur, you hafta sign up for the regular duelling!” exclaimed Nial, grabbing his roommate’s arm. “Llel and I already did.” He looked at Quaz and Suykhi. “What about you guys?”

“We haven’t gotten there, yet,” said Quaz, setting the sign-up sheet back on the table.

“Oh, I’ll put your names down for you, then.”

The pair were gone before any reply could be given. Suykhi sighed, pushing his blue hair back.

“Well, guess I’ve been drafted into two duelling clubs.”

“Ah, it’ll be fun,” Llel assured him, sticking her hands into her pockets.

“I hope so.”

“So, what did you guys sign up for?” she asked as they walked down the aisle.

“Other than the duelling clubs, the school band and archery,” replied Quaz.

“Um, I joined the art club and archery,” said Suykhi, sticking close as they wove through the crowd. “I’m not very good at sports.”

“And what did you join?” asked Quaz, fixing his ruby gaze on Llel.

“Both duelling clubs and the school play!”

Quaz shook his head, sighing. “Nial got you into that, didn’t he?”

She nodded. “Sounds like it could be fun.”

Suykhi and Quaz exchanged glances to which Llel was completely oblivious.

They spent another twenty minutes wandering around, regrouping with Seur and Nial near the rugby table.

“What did you sign up for, Seur?” Llel asked as the group heading down the last row.

“Archery, fencing, and both duelling clubs.”

She whistled. “You’re pretty sporty.”

He shrugged. “Only things that don’t involve teams.”

“He’s not a people-person,” Nial whispered loudly, grinning at his roommate.

Seur rolled his eyes. “You’re enough for both of us.”

“That’s because everyone loves me!” exclaimed Nial, throwing his arms out to the sides and nearly hitting another student in the face.

His roommate shook his head with a sigh, expression clearly saying, See what I have to put up with?. Llel snickered, smacking Nial in the arm. He grinned at her and threw an arm around her shoulders.

“Well, if we’re done picking clubs, let’s go do something...I’m bored!”

“How can you be bored already?” demanded Seur, bewildered.

Nial shrugged, smile still wreathing his face. “What can I say? I don’t like staying still for too long.”

“No kidding,” muttered Seur, rolling his blue eyes.

“So...how about...we go outside?”

“And do what?” asked Llel, playing with her hair.

He shrugged. “I dunno. We’ll figure it out once we get there. So, come on!”

Looking at each other, his friends followed him as he wove through the crowd and headed for the gym doors. The quiet of the outside hall made Llel’s ears ring, and she shook her head to get rid of it. They went down a short hall beside the gym and left through the door at the end. Llel loved weekends, especially when there was nice weather like today. They walked over to the field beside the forest, where Nial’s face lit up.

“Hey! Let’s play hide-and-seek!”

Quaz raised an eyebrow. “‘Hide-and-seek’?”

“Why not? It’s lots of fun!”

Llel grinned. “I love hide-and-seek! Let’s play!”

Quaz sighed, rolling his ruby eyes. “Alright, whatever.”

Nial clapped his hands, bouncing on his feet. “Yay! Alright, I’ll be ‘it’. Everyone go hide!”

While he was counting, his friends dashed to various hiding places. Llel ran for the forest, weaving through the trees and bushes. Once she’d gotten far enough away, she slowed her pace and began looking around in curiosity. Lots of birds and squirrels. A few chipmunks. A groundhog? She shook the hair out of her dual-coloured eyes, sticking her hands in the pockets of her new jeans. Suddenly, she stopped, senses alert. The feeling was back; the feeling of being watched. She spun around, eyes flicking from tree to tree. Had Nial already found her...?

She heard a twig snap and spun around, hands raised, ready for combat. She sensed that there was someone in the forest other than her friends, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that they meant her harm. But who was it? Xerviex?

Llel carefully stepped forward, ears perked for any sound. She didn’t want to fight, but if she had to, she would.

She heard footsteps behind her, and she froze, heart racing. Someone was there, someone who wanted to hurt her. She would have to fight them. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she raised her arms and spun around, thrusting her hands out as a ball of raw power shot from her. Nial barely dodged it in time, as it went volleying past him into a tree, which promptly exploded. He stared at her with wide eyes, pressed against another tree.

“Uh...never mind, then...you don’t have to be ‘it’...” he said, laughing nervously. “Please don’t shoot anything else at me.”

Flushing with embarrassment, Llel raced over to her friend, apologies spilling out of her mouth.

“Oh my God, Nial, I didn’t know it was you! I’m so sorry!” She grabbed her friend’s arm, peering into his pale face. “Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m good...um...who did you think it was?”

She chewed on her lip, glancing behind her. “I thought I felt someone following me...”

He followed her gaze, eyebrow raised. “Sure it wasn’t just me?”

Llel nodded, face serious. “I’ve had this feeling before. Earlier this week.”

Nial frowned, concern replacing the doubt in his eyes. “Alright, let’s get back to the others then.”

Llel didn’t argue, and followed her friend out of the forest. She didn’t think there was anything to really worry about, but she didn’t want to risk it. Who could possibly be following her?