Quick author’s note: First off, this is the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo. Second, I have the whole thing written (more or less), so updates will happen at the speed of which I can make all this legible. Well, less confusing, anyway. With luck, updates will be every week.

Third, many thanks go to Zeero Angelfall who’s story, Telran Academy, provided pretty much all the inspiration for this (along with a few ideas and character traits). Even if I decided not to try to get it published, I’m still thankful to her for not having any problems it.

Okay now, go read, enjoy, and review.

Chapter One:: Introductions, Dorm Rooms, And Castles
AKA: The Stars Meet And Are Introduced

I hate the first day of school. Well, actually, the day wasn't the first day of school, not really. It was the first day of my boarding school's summer program. It's not exactly summer school, but it takes place at the school. The school, Stone Haven, was better than a regular private school or a private boarding school, and the summer program was so much better than spending more time at my house-- I'm sorry, mansion-- then I have to, and risk seeing my parents if, for whatever reason, they felt like actually coming home.

Of course, maybe I should start at the beginning.

I'm Eric Stinley. I'm sixteen (almost seventeen) here on this first day of Stone Haven Academy's summer program. The school is the only one that I've stayed at for more than a year. It isn't because I'm... well, less of a nuisance here, but, I guess, because I've toned down my nuisance...ness since coming here so I could stay. I like it here. It's not... boring, like all the other schools I've been to. It isn't an all boys school either, which is a plus, even for someone as gay as me (seriously. It seems like every teenage boy in an all boy's boarding school spends their free time screwing whoever's willing). And that's another thing: I'm gay. I'm told it's one of my better qualities, too.

The school itself is a fantastic, awesome, old fashioned castle, towers, stone walls, secret passage ways and all. There are actually several different buildings inside the big wall that surrounds the grounds; the dorms (one for boys, one for girls, each housing 50-65 students--there weren't many students accepted into the school every year), the infirmary, the cafeteria and a few others.

Truthfully, I'm not sure where the school is, other than in northern Ohio, because my parents' driver always, well, drives me and I don't pay attention, but I've never found it important to learn. I mean, why would I need to know exactly where it is?

Oh, yeah. Stone Haven is the top school in the country. Not only that, but it's one of the most expensive. My parents are ridiculously rich, and that's the only reason I can attend this pretty school. My grades aren't good enough to win me a scholarship, and I suck at all the sports and other things they give out scholarships for. Oddly enough, while the school has an amazing art program-- the most appealing thing to me about this school, being an artist myself-- it doesn't give out art scholarships. It's not fair. But then, nothing ever is.

This year, I was the first one to my dorm room. It was a first, since all the other years I've been here--two in all (not including this one), not that much, I know, but still a record for me-- I had been the last to arrive. I made sure that I left early, though, this year. Instead of having only one roommate, I have two. The three of us will be happily-- maybe-- sharing a suite room thing. Not only that, but we have the best one in the dorm. It's the largest, and prettiest. And best.

Quickly claiming the bed up against the wall to the left (the bed nearest the door) as mine, I walked over to the tall window next to the small kitchen/snack area. The kitchen place was really no more than a small piece of counter, which was mostly covered by a microwave, and a mini fridge for whatever (which was generously provided by the school). There was a table, too, but I doubt that'll be used for much more than throwing stuff on. Then there was the living area--which consisted of a couch and a chair. And then the beds, three in a row, directly to your left as you walk in the door.

"Eric?" A familiar voice asked in the silence, scaring the bajeebers out of me. I screamed and jumped, amusing my used-to-be friend, Jade Natel, to no end. He was still laughing after I had calmed down and began to glare at him, but his laughter soon turned to a simple (but award winningly hot) smile. "Man, you're too jumpy. Relax."

"Yeah, sure," I reply. "Easy for you to say. You could beat up someone twice your size." And he could, too. Actually, I think he did, once, or twice…or three times…

"Yeah. I know. You're rooming here, too, I take it?"

"Yup. Got lucky this year. I’m assuming you are, too?" He rolled his eyes as he dropped a bag onto his bed, making it clear that the question was too obvious for him to bother answering. "Annoying person..." I muttered.

"Umm..." someone said at the door. Looking over, I saw what I assumed was our other roommate. He was super cute in that I’m-really-shy-and-very-nervous-about-being-here way, especially in clothes that were obviously a couple sizes too big for him. "Hi..."

"Hello!" I said back, cheerfully. He blinked at me, looking even cuter, slightly surprised at my cheeriness. It was nothing new, the surprise, but it made me grin even wider. With his cuteness level being through the roof, how could I not?

"Hey," Jade said across the room, interrupting anything else I was about to say. I swear he did that on purpose. "You must be our other roommate?" The last seemed more like a question than a statement, probably Jade's way of sounding less scary than usual. He’d made his voice a little softer, too, apparently picking up on the kid’s nervousness.

"Ye-yeah. I'm Simon." Awww, he stutters. Cute.

"I'm Jade. That's Eric," he nodded to me, "over there. If he annoys you or anything, feel free to either hit him or throw something at him. Or, you know, do that anyway. I'm sure he deserves it for something."

"Hey!" I protest, pouting. "That's not fair! I don't annoy people. I bring sunshine and rainbows into their day!"

"..." was Jade's only response as he looked at me. After a couple seconds, he turned back to Simon, who had a small smile on his face, taking the other boy's gaze off me as well. "Come on in, the rest of the way. Sorry, but you got stuck with the bed in the middle."

"It's okay," Simon replied softly, smiling a bit more at Jade’s friendliness. I just noticed, but Simon's voice was really soft. Like it was just barely audible, but I could hear it fine. It wasn't just now, either; he'd been talking in that soft voice the whole time. How strange. I guess Jade noticed as well, since he glanced at me, probably trying to tell me not to scare the kid. But really, would I do that? ...Okay, so, I would.

"Sooo..." I said, trying to think of something to start a conversation. Simon jumped slightly as I broke the several minute silence that we'd been in, and I felt a little bad. I offered him one of my 'Ha, sorry' grins, and, oddly enough, he blushed and went back to his unpacking. "Who else likes pie?"

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Jade, asked, rude as always. Let me take a minute to describe Jade for you: rude. Okay, that was just too easy. Anyway, Jade is probably the most popular boy in the school. In the two years he's been here, he's brought the fencing team to the national competition, and then won it. Not by himself, the rest of the team gets a lot of credit, but it's obvious it's because of Jade that they even got that far. He's really big on martial arts, probably knowing one hundred and one ways to kill you with a spork, and he can be really nice. When he wants to be. Strangely enough, since our parents forced us apart a few years back (we used to be great friends 'til some shit happened), he hasn't been nice to me. Wonder why.

Jade is also really good looking. With nice sized muscles that he doesn't bother trying to hide with his form-fitting shirts, jade-green eyes that he was named for, sun-bleached blonde hair and a tan to die for, I'm pretty sure the girls here voted him 'most sexy guy' for the last two years. Hell, I'm pretty sure some guys did, too. He has a great laugh, shiny white teeth, three piercings in his left ear, and, all in all, seemingly perfect. I wonder, am I the only one who knows differently?

"Well," I said back, pretending to think, "no, I don't believe I do."

"Maybe you should jump out the window and remedy that." As Jade said that, Simon dropped something with glass. I turned sharply to look at him, an instinctive reaction I guess, and he looked almost like he was about to cry.

Quickly I walked over, seeing it was a picture frame the kid dropped, and put my had on his shoulder. I noticed Jade had come around to stand on the other side of the bed just as quickly, looking a tad worried, but showed no other sign of concern. Typical.

"Hey," I said quietly, "you okay?"

"Ye-yeah-yeah." Came his soft voice as he looked down at the broken glass. He didn't sound okay. "It just sl-slipped. Sorry..."

"It's okay," I said as Jade moved over to the teeny little closet near his bed. I moved my hand across him to his other shoulder, and gave him a quick squeeze before grabbing the dust pan and little broom from Jade, who was suddenly right beside me.

"I got it," Simon protested. I didn't bother replying, since I was making it obvious I wasn't going to listen. I broke a lot of little stuff in my room at my parents' house-- purposely, I admit-- and was an expert on cleaning it up quickly.

I smiled at Simon again after I finished and put the things away, plopping down on the couch. He smiled back, looking cuter than ever, and not so sad.

I could vaguely feel myself falling for the younger boy, and almost hoped the attraction would go away.

-

At the school, the first week of either the summer program or classes are the week to pull pranks. This year, though, my friends-- Lisa, Mark, and Trent-- and I aren't planning on any of that. After almost getting myself expelled last year, I know the teachers will be watching me. Of course, with all the tricks I usually pull during the year and get away with, they'll be watching me anyway, so it's nothing new. Jade seemed a little too surprised when he learned this two days after we arrived.

"But your pranks are the best!" He protested to me as I sit on the couch with my sketch book. I'm doing a sketch of Simon, trying to get how he looked that day I cleaned up the glass from the picture frame, with him smiling at me slightly. I'm also trying to hide said sketch from Jade, which is proving harder than I thought it would be.

"You'll just have to wait," I replied, "until classes start to see my work then, now won't you?"

"Shouldn't," Simon said quietly from the chair where he was, oddly enough, studying (really, who studies before school even starts?), "you just not do any pranks at all?"

"Well, yeah," I say to him, seeing him finally look up from the textbook. "But where's the fun in that?" I sniggered as Jade snorted and rolled his eyes, moving to grab his backpack from his bed.

"Yeah," Jade said, "where's the fun in him not getting kicked out for something stupid."

"I hope you know that if thought I could hit you, I'd throw something at you right now."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be back later."

"Thanks for sharing!" You might think it was, but, really, that was not sarcastic.

Jade left, probably to go work out or practice whatever form of martial arts he's learning, and I looked back at Simon. He had his face back down looking at the textbook, but he was smiling.

In the past two days, I've learned that Simon is really shy. He's also in the year below Jade and I, which explains why I didn't know him. He's a book nerd with little to no friends, and I've made it my mission to befriend him. It's not working too well yet; I think I've only gotten on his nerves as I have a habit of disrupting his study time, but it's only been two days and he has yet to actually snap at me (a first), so the signs are encouraging.

Jade, I think, has been trying to do the same thing with Simon. It's strange, since I've never seen it happen with him before, but I think he's really taken to the younger boy. Usually Jade can't stand people that are so much weaker than him, or people that are quiet and booky, all of which Simon is. Maybe something happened between them while I wasn't here or something, but it's great Simon has Jade on his side. I've learned from Lisa (my best friend) that last year the poor boy got picked on quite a lot. With Jade as his friend, if that happens...well, lets just say that I'll have seen better looking road kill. The best part? Jade would never get blamed or in trouble for it.

"Well," I started, seeing Simon look up after a couple seconds, "Now that there's just two of us, why don't you take off your clothes and let me draw you?" Just like I thought he would, Simon blushed red as an apple, and threw a scrap piece of paper at me. "Just kidding," I laughed, sticking my tongue out at him. I think I heard him mumble something about an 'insufferable roommate' and I wasn't sure whether I should be offended or not. I chose not, as it was so much easier.

"Why," I asked, "do you spend all this time studying before school even begins?" He looked a little startled at this, so I guessed his previous roommates never asked.

"Well," he began, looking like he was thinking it through, "I'm here on an academic scholarship, and I don't want to risk my grades dropping at all. I don't have the money to afford to go to a school like this-- I barely have enough money for the uniform. But I love it here, and I don't want to leave just because I couldn't keep my grades high enough. I... it's hard enough for me to spend the few weeks at...home, so I'm not sure I could handle the entire year being... there."

I wanted to ask about the last sentence-- it would just be so unlike me not to-- but the way he looked back down at his book, and the way his voice lowered as he said it, kept me from asking. The way he was acting, it was definitely something pretty bad, and I didn't want to make him or pressure him into telling me, thereby ruining the whole friendship-in-the-works thing. So, instead, I moved on, trying to cheer him up. Badly, I might add.

"Oohhh," I said, like I finally understood something I'd been trying to get for a while, "I get it. So, have you ever grown anything?"

"Grown...anything?" he repeated, obviously confused. I moved closer to him, leaning on the arm of the couch.

"Yeah, grown anything. It's fun, and makes you feel like a god. You should try it."

"Um, okay, sure." He was just humoring me. I could tell. It only made me all the more determined to show him what I mean. I wonder what kind of seeds I should get for him...Flowers? Spices? A tree? Okay, so that last is a little ridiculous seeing that it'd have to stay in the room, but still. Maybe a mint plant or something...

"You'll see," I told him, sure. "So, I'm supposed to be meeting Lisa. She wanted to do something. Can't remember what. Don't really care. You want to come?"

"Um, I really should get back to studying and--"

"You have the rest of the summer to study for classes that have won't be starting any time soon. I'll tell you what: if you come, I'll leave you alone to study all day tomorrow. Deal?"

He thought for a couple seconds, staring at me. "Deal."