A bell rang. Syan jumped in his seat and flicked his eyes to the clock. Despair ran through him, 3:25 it said.

Oblivious to his mood, Cathryn was bouncing in her seat, waiting for the teachers dismissal. Syan was beginning to doubt her age (and maybe her sanity) since she acted like a sugar-dosed five year old.

Finally noticing that she had lost the attention of the students, the teacher waved a hand for them to get lost.

Syan breathed a sigh of relief as he escaped the confines of the classroom, though it quickly turned into a shiver as a strong gust of wind blew. His clothes brought no protection at all. He had been forced to wear a ‘previously owned’ school uniform. It consisted of a slightly tight fitting grey cotton shirt and black pants. The uniform made him nervous, especially the curious red stain on the breast pocket, and he had yet to buy a jumper. Therefore, he was cold.

He was startled when Cathryn slung an arm around his shoulders and beamed down at him.

“Let’s go and meet Lex ‘n Tina!”

She started to drag him towards the left of the building.

“B-but my house is that way!” he tried to protest, pointing in the opposite direction.

Cathryn stopped and turned to him.

“Oh-ho no! We have a long standing tradition of going to Lex’s house everyday after school! And since you’re now part of the group, you have to come!”

Syan sighed in a resigned fashion and allowed himself to be dragged away.