‘It’s not the same.’

The thought struck Crow as he waited, staring out a window and sitting in your stereotypical waiting room. Walls painted a neutral color, unassuming and simple, meant to soothe and calm. Crow didn’t care enough to decide whether the color was a soft blue or green or something between those. The chairs situated around the room looked far more comfortable than they actually were, and magazines (admittedly less conventional than average, since they were for the magical community) were strewn on a coffee table that could have been oak, maple, or artificial wood. Pictures of nothing really important were placed, probably only to have something to stare at besides other people, that is if you weren’t lucky enough to have a seat by the only window in the room.

‘It’s just not the same.’ The thought drifted, and Crow couldn’t understand it. It was the outside he was thinking of. He’d always loved the outdoors, inexplicably. But now, gazing on the well-trimmed lawn of the academy, the artfully placed and well cared for trees, everything had a firm feeling of having been manufactured. Even the sun seemed filtered.

Crow hadn’t cried since he was a baby, but he felt that he might now. Rather, he didn’t, but he wanted to.

‘Nothing is the same.’ He switched his obsidian gaze to the magazines, looking for anything of interest. There was nothing, of course. He did a deadpan over the rest of the room. There were a total of three people in it, including himself and the secretary. This was probably because most students had their class schedules mailed to them, but of course a vampire coven only gives out its address as a last resort, circumstances be damned. Crow didn’t know why the only other student, the girl in the green cardigan, was here, but he didn’t really care either.

It’s just that he was so damned bored and, and… and everything seemed to have changed all of a sudden. It was some kind of syndrome, he thought, that had to be it. After all he was in a very new place, with no one he knew, it was only natural that he be nervous and the nervousness would… but he wasn’t nervous. It’s hard to be nervous when you know that even one-eighth of vampire blood gives you enough to incapacitate a roomful of overzealous would-be subduers and exit before they can wonder what hit them. Yeah, knowledge like that can have calming effects on a person.

So the only explanation he could come up with was that besides a new place being different itself by definition, it also gave you a different perspective of things. Thus nothing being the same.

It didn’t help really, but that was the best he could do for the moment.

“Marandici, Crow?” The secretary had evidently just received his schedule through whatever messaging system they had, and was now waving it in his general direction. Crow extricated himself gratefully from the seat, which had seemed to be growing more uncomfortable by the minute, and walked up to seize the paper.

As he took the schedule, he noticed that green cardigan girl seemed to be staring at him, which made little sense. After all, it was unlikely she could really see anything what with the cloak he was wearing, hood up and everything. Turning and exiting, Crow decided it didn’t matter. He was finding that he cared less and less about things in general, part of the ‘new place perspective’ he supposed. He was about halfway back to the assembly room, where all newcomers would be introduced to the school, when fast-moving footsteps came from behind him and a feminine voice called out.

“Hey! Wait up!” Against his better judgment, Crow turned around. It was green cardigan girl. Crow made a mental note never to go against his better judgment again as she, panting, caught up to him. “Wow, you walk fast.” She beamed up at him, brushing blonde curls behind her ear. “Hi, I’m Maxie Setter! I saw you get your schedule; I was getting mine too, and figured you must be new too. So I thought I’d introduce myself.”

Crow wasn’t used to meeting new people. He hadn’t, in fact, officially met anyone outside of his own family since he was seven years old. This meant, naturally, that he was going to be bad at behaving in a social manner. His first opinion of Maxie and her admittedly exuberant introduction was that her name sounded like a dog name, that she was somewhat unstable, and that curls didn’t really suit her at all. Luckily he wasn’t a mean-spirited person. For all that he was moody and withdrawn and bitter, Crow at this point in time did not, in fact, bear an ounce of bad will towards anyone on the planet. Well, except his Aunt Nita, but even that was more like exasperation than actual bad will.

“Well… uh…” He struggled for something to say. He really had no idea what one did say in a situation such as this, so he went for something that seemed to be a winner in the books and movies he’d read and seen.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Crow said. This wasn’t particularly true, but Maxie’s smile widened, if that was even possible, so Crow figured it was the right answer. “I’m Crow Marandici.” He knew that she had probably already heard as much in the waiting room, but even Crow knew that it was standard practice to recite your name when meeting a person.

“That’s so cool.” Maxie bounced on the spot, and Crow felt another burst of regret for not listening to his better judgment earlier. “Really your name is sooo interesting! Sometimes I think mine sounds like it should be a dog’s name or something.” Crow warmed to her slightly at this.

“It’s not so bad.” He allowed himself to say. And she gazed adoringly at where she imagined his face to be under his hood. “We’d better get to orientation…” He suggested and she nodded vigorously. When Crow turned and continued his walk, Maxie followed at his heels.

“So, how come you’re wearing that cloak inside?” She asked, all innocence, her baby blue eyes blinking up at him. Crow wasn’t very tall, he finished off at 5’7”, but he topped Maxie by a good six inches. He wondered how she managed to be so unnervingly… cute. Maybe, he thought, she actually was a puppy and a spell had turned her human?

“Because I want to.” He informed her briskly. Actually the main reason was so no one would see his tattoos. Crow knew it was inevitable that eventually they would be revealed, he didn’t plan to wear a hooded cloak at all times for the next five years, but he figured waiting a while might soften reactions. Crow was no fool; he knew that extensive facial tattoos were going to get a reaction. Crow didn’t like attention.

“O-kaaaaayyy.” Maxie replied good-naturedly. Let’s leave Crow to brood and take a closer look at Maxie for a moment, shall we?

Maxie was fourteen; she was entered into the academy early because her fifteenth birthday was November 10th, precisely one month and three days after school started. She was a natural blonde, but her hair wasn’t usually in corkscrew curls, that was the doing of her mother and a curling iron. She had large, baby blue eyes, a Cupid’s bow mouth, and a tiny button nose. Her face was small and oval shaped and the entire affect was that she looked even younger than she was.

She was friendly, cheery, and persistent. Maxie was also intelligent, and very perceptive, although her bubbly nature and hyper attitude tended to give people the opposite impression. As of the moment, she knew that Crow was unhappy and very out of his element, that she unnerved him a bit, and that he was hiding something. Several things, actually. She also observed that he was basically a good person, as otherwise he wouldn’t have put up with her, and that he was tall, slender, and likely to be good-looking under that hood. Ok that last wasn’t admittedly an admirable sentiment, but whatever. Color her shallow.

The two had arrived at the assembly room in a manner of moments, and upon going inside, both parties had to admit that they were overwhelmed.

The place had the basic feel of any other large high school auditorium, but this one was decorated much more sophisticatedly. Also many of the students were doing small magical activities with their friends that you most certainly wouldn’t spot in a normal high school.

“Where are we supposed to sit?” Maxie found herself asking desperately. She received no answer, and looked over to Crow, half expecting him to be gone. He wasn’t. She couldn’t see his face, but Maxie had the distinct impression that he was in pure and utter shock, speechless in the face of… well, she didn’t know what. Surely it couldn’t just be the auditorium? “Uh… Crow? Are you okay?”

Crow had momentarily shut down. He had walked into the room, thought ‘Holy-! It’s huge!’ then he had seen a face that, despite six years having passed, he recognized instantly. And just like that, all thought process had ceased. Maxie’s words just barely penetrated the pure shock that had grasped him, and Crow heard himself answer somehow.

“I… really don’t know, Maxie. I don’t know at all.” Six years… that feeling still hadn’t faded.