During lunch, Nisha decided to ignore all males interested in sitting next to her. Instead she found an isolated table in a far corner and sat with Peri. She had sent death glares to all those guys that she felt might want to join, which was Jack, Alec, and Slender. Though with Slender she had sent him an apologetic smile and clasped her hands together in a begging gesture to let him know she didn't disclude him out of hard feelings. When she saw him slowly give her another thumbs-up, she had smiled widely, nodded, and waved briefly.

She had been a little startled to find that she hadn't needed to say her name, pull out her wallet, though she had no currency for this world, or show some sort of meal card. She was also once again surprised by how much this place was like a human school. Though, she had noticed there had been a lot of dishes on the menu she had never heard of or claimed to contain things she did not find edible in the least. Like dreams, centipedes, emotions, special...sexual energy drinks?

That had made her turn bright red and drop her gaze from the menu before quietly asking for a cheeseburger and fries, the first thing that came to mind. Now, sitting down across from Peri with her large salad, she looked her friend in the eye. "I have questions, madam," she began in a dramatically serious tone, hoping to cheer her friend up from P.E. class. "Questions that you must answer before I allow you to leave this place."

Slowly, blinking, Peri let out a reluctant giggle. "W-what is that e-even...?" Her face smoothed out into an expression that was a little more cheerful than before. "What do you want to know?"

"First off, what's wrong with the faculty here? If even half of the amount of stuff that has happened to me this morning had taken place in my world, minus the magic, the whole place would be in more of an uproar."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Peri began pouring a carrot flavored salad dressing over her large bowel. "Every single student that goes to this school is part of the very, very upper crust of the Other realm. They'll all gain a lot of power shortly after they graduate, expected to carry on family traditions and power struggles. As such, Headmaster Blake believes its better for students to learn to overcome conflict between each other on their own, rather than having teachers breathing down their necks. The faculty only steps in if things get to a level that is bordering on, if not outright, lethal."
Peri paused for a few minutes to eat before continuing. Nisha stayed quiet; eating, listening, learning, and trying to understand. "Every one of these students will grow up to play a role in the politics of the royals. For me, as the third and youngest child as well as a girl, it's to be married off to strengthen an alliance with another clan. For you, well...Why are you and Jack engaged?"

Swallowing hard, Nisha decided to tell part of the truth, hoping it would distract Peri from catching what she wanted to hide. "Jack loves me."

Her eyes going wide, Peri leaned back into her chair. "Wow...'Love'? That's, uh...um. That's pretty rare of a reason." Frowning, Nisha asked why. "Well, because there's nothing to gain from marriages with love. You're human so no special abilities, right?" Nod. "Well, do you come from a big, important, or rich family in the Human world?" Slow shake of the head. Peri sighed. "Then there you have it. And now I'm super curious as to why the Frost's are letting this happen. Just because the two of you love each other isn't a good enough reason to marry. If nothing else I don't see why they are wasting their precious heir on a union like that."

Nisha unconsciously let out a soft sound of hurt. Peri hurried to reassure her. "I'm not saying that I think you aren't worthy of Jack. If anything, I'm beginning to think the very opposite. But I'm trying to figure this out and explain it to you from the view point of a royal. So, in that respect...If the Frost's were really determined to have you marry into their family...I don't see why you aren't engaged to Jacob. He's a year older, but he won't inherit...unless Jack dies, which I can't see happening. If you married Jacob that would leave Jack free to marry one of the high-standing daughters of the cold-based Others. This, in turn, would result in a strong son to inherit after Jack. With a union between an et hiemis and a human, I'm not sure how likely it is to have a child with abilities. And even if you do, there's no guarantee that they'd be able to do much more than make a cold breeze. If a satisfactory heir can't be produced, Jack would have to either get a mistress or divorce you, to find another wife."

Leaning back in her own chair, Nisha had a sudden swell of emotions. But they all came and went, ebbed and waned so quickly she couldn't really catch any of them. It wasn't until Peri very softly spoke that she began to pull herself out of that large lake of her mind and heart.

"N-Nisha? I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. I shouldn't have been so blunt about all of that. Jack's your betrothed and hearing about him possibly abandoning or cheating on you must have been awful."

Startled, her hand slowly lifted to her face. Sure enough, a thin, wet stream of tears was leaking past her eyes. Sucking in a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down. She couldn't figure out why she was crying though. If Jack did drop her for a better union, all her problems would be fixed. So why had she been crying?

Peri's eyes widening before a small blush colored her cheeks was Nisha's only warning.

Suddenly arms came around from behind her. Lips close to her ear brought with them a voice she recognized. "I'm sorry, Nisha. I know I'm breaking my promise again. But I can't handle seeing you cry. I don't know why you are and I won't ask. Just...let me hold you for a few seconds more, please. I want to let you know that I'm here for you. That I love you, no matter how you feel about me."

Unable to speak past the sudden lump in her throat, she could only nod. True to his word, his touch only lasted for three more brief seconds. He left just as silently as he had come. And though his actions had left her feeling torn, she did feel a little better than before. Now she was just utterly embarrassed that Jack would be so forward as to hug her in the middle of lunch.

Especially since this academy was small enough that all the students had lunch at the same time. She had been very startled to find the elementary students standing with high school students in line for food. She had waved to Millie when she caught sight of her and had silently endured the stares of the younger students. They had all been too afraid and uncertain about her to try and approach though. Several had even quietly asked older students to go ahead of them in line. Then the kid would use the larger body as a meat shield to hide behind. Nisha had done her best to not take it personal. After all, it was evident that she was the first human any of the little kids had seen, as well as the vast majority of other students. But she still felt a little annoyed. After all, she had never met a pegasus, werewolf, dragon, phoenix, elf, hellhound, dullahan, et hiemis, wood nymph, or Slender Man before just last week. All of this was just as new to her and she was in the vast minority. Kids would be kids though and there was no reason for her to feel insulted over it.

Sighing, she slowly sank her head down to the table.

"That was...I'm sorry I ever questioned his feelings..."

Still feeling too drained to lift her head up, Nisha turned it to the side. This way she could speak, even if her voice was half-muffled. "It's not your fault. So," she paused, closing her eyes and taking in another breath. "On to the next question I-"

"There's still more?"

"-have. Yes, of course. I said 'questions' earlier. So, if so many of these Others are, you know, just that...Why do they all look human, or mostly so?"

Peri voice held a note of laughter. "I guess you could call it as 'wanting to resemble one's creator'? A very long time ago, it wasn't like this. But with the modernization of humans in the past five centuries or so, it's begun to be seen more and more as just the normal way to be. Granted, not all Others have the ability to appear completely human, but if they can they will do so."

"Hmm. So...you're a pegasus, correct?" Peri nodded. "So, what race does your finance belong to? Is he like a...a vampire or a spider or something?"

The other girl giggled. "Ew, no! Vidar's a centaur."

After a few seconds of recalling what that particular creature was, Nisha nodded as well. "So how does a pegasus and centaur getting together work out? And I'm not asking for the details. More like...what would your kid be like? A flying centaur?"

Peri stared at her, blinking. Then she let out a loud laugh. "Oh my God, you really don't know?" Seeing that Nisha honestly didn't, she slowly sobered. "I'm sorry. It's just common sense for everyone else, so I...forgot. Well, if it's a girl there's a 50% chance for her to be a pegasus, 40% for a centaur, and a 10% for a Kelpie, since I know I have that about four generations down the line. For a boy? 60% chance for a centaur, 35% Kelpie, and 5% chance for a pegasus. My race is very rare among male bloodlines."

"So...there are never any hybrids?"

"Nope. The closest any get is when a human's genes are brought into the mix. Then you may get a child who is human, or mostly so, with some of the abilities or traits of the Other parent."

Nisha slowly nodded. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember if there was anything else she had wanted to ask. But just then the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. Blinking, the two of them shot to their feet and rushed to put away their trays. Waving as she passed by Peri in the hall, Nisha did her best to fight through the sudden rush of bodies, large and small, to get to her locker. In the end, she was thankful that the lunch bell-period was ten minutes instead of five. She would have never been able to make it alive and on time if it hadn't been.

Sitting down, she only had enough time to wave to her new friends, get her things out, and then math class was starting. It took all her concentration. Math had never been her strong point. The math teacher, a very Egyptian-looking man, Mr. Imenand, was a sphinx. And he loved to pick on students who looked even slightly lost or confused. His punishment was riddles. If the correct answer wasn't given within five minutes, you received one less point on your next test in his class. And apparently Mr. Imenand never forgot, since there had been some students who failed just because of the mass of wrong answers they had given to this teacher's riddles.

Thankfully, he left her alone for today. But she wasn't going to count on it, since she had no idea how long it would last. History she had with Blake again, since it was hard to see the guy as a 'headmaster' most of the time. After history class, she came back to 2-B. 'Magic study' as they called it, was where the students were allowed to assume their true forms, as long as they were not lethal. Once in those forms, they would practice using and controlling the large magic boost they received from doing so. The teacher, a yuki-onna, Ms. Khione, hadn't thought to warn Nisha though.

She had been sitting in her seat, pulling out some of her homework to get a head start on. And suddenly, a loud whoosh filled her ears and she glanced up to find out what had happened. Standing between her and Alec's desk was a giant, black, hound. Its eyes were the same burning red from when he had run toward her that morning. It was five feet tall, with a glowing, red-orange hue all along its short black fur. When it breathed, she could see the fiery hue shifting under the surface, realizing that the dog had a fire on the inside.

Amelia and Thomas were a light and dark mirror of each other once again. They had changed to look more like the elves out of Lord of the Rings, but none of those actors had been able to approach their level of beauty and air of mystery. Even Thomas, who somehow looked both beautiful and terribly all at once. Nathan hadn't exploded into a full dragon, like how she imagined. Instead he had grown slightly taller and his entire body was scaled. If anything, he looked like a humanoid-dragon, besides wings and a tail. He even had two horns protruding from his forehead.

Etna had not transformed in the slightest, as well as Slender. Peri had transformed into a full-blown pegasus. Her mane and tail were streaked with black inside the pure white. She blew a loud breath out of her nostrils before turning her head to glance at Nisha. Then she shuddered, her wings on her back spreading out more. Trevor had gone full on wolf-man.

Jack looked no different that when he transformed all the other times she had seen him, besides this morning. She guessed that going any further might be dangerous and the same must be true for Etna.

"Oh my! I completely forgot we had a human in the class! Oh but...we should all be okay...she is a student, so we shouldn't be breaking any laws..." The voice pulled Nisha's attention back to the front of the class. Instead of the little blonde woman from before, she found herself staring at a very beautiful black-haired woman with hair that flowed like a waterfall down her back. Her legs had completely disappeared up to her knees and she wore a long, sweeping gown of white. Her eyes glowed a white-blue and she had a small mist of ice emitting from her body. "Well, Ms. Caldwell...since you cannot participate, I ask that you sit quietly and try not to bother the other students, alright?"

Gulping, Nisha quickly nodded. Lowering her gaze, she forced herself to focus on her assignments and not look up again. Who knew what she would see when she did?

The day came to an end. With the last period as a free study for her, she was able to get a little ahead on her assignments. Gathering her things together, it took her nearly ten minutes to get back down to her locker to collect what she would need. With everything inside her book bag, she headed out the same door she had entered from in the morning. Outside, she started to walk back to the car. She was very sure the others were finished and ready to go by now. And she wasn't surprised. Jacob was leaning against the car, looking bored out of his mind.

"Hey Jacob," she tried to greet him nonchalantly.

He straightened with a start, looking like she had just given him a heart attack. "Uh...huh? Oh, yeah, just you."

She was torn between laughter and anger. "Expecting someone else?"

Slowly, he shook his head, glancing down at a watch on his wrist. "Nope. C'mon. Go ahead and get in the car. The others shouldn't be too much longer." Not looking at her, he motioned to the car behind him. With not much else to do, she opened the backseat door and did as he instructed.

Five minutes later the others were climbing in. As soon as seatbelts were on, Jacob sped away. "Whoa there, big bro!" Jack cried out. Nisha rushed to grab onto the side of the car door so she'd be less likely to hit something from the wild driving.

"He's just upset since Ms. Khione didn't show up by the student cars today."

"Millie, you loud-mouthed brat, shut the fuck up!" Jacob growled darkly. His little sister only giggled so he changed the subject a minute later. "You are so in for it tonight," he grinned at Jack. "You broke one of the few school rules that are enforced today..."

Jack, for his part, shrank into his seat up front slightly. "Please don't remind me. I've been dreading what Mother will do and say as soon as I calmed down."

"Still..." Jacob admitted grudgingly. "I suppose it's good that you didn't transform completely. Though if you had I wouldn't be forced to put up with this human anymore. But more than half of the school would be dead by now as well. And we don't need you starting a war over some measly human female. I suppose the school doesn't need to know how much you really held back though. What did you use, like a tenth of your true powers?"

Jack stayed very quiet. Nisha felt as if she had been punched in the gut. Had the situation really been that dangerous this morning? Had so many people really been that close to death? Millie, who usually seemed to enjoy chatting, was ominously silent as well.

The car ride continued in that tense, numb air. She bundled up and let Jack help her into the palace. Jacob and Millie were right behind them, Jacob carrying Jack's things. Inside, they were met with their parents. Quentin and Glacia looked furious. Grace merely looked very worried. Jack slowly released his hold on Nisha, stepping back from her slightly. Silently, Nisha began to take off her overly-warm outerwear, Grace stepping up to help her. Nisha desperately wanted to escape. Her and her grandmother really shouldn't be here. They weren't part of this family and it felt wrong to overhear all of this.

"You idiotic fool!" Quentin yelled, starting it off. "Did you not stop to think of the consequences? No? Of course you didn't!"

"I'm very disappointed in you, Jack. You know the rules. You are not allowed to loose control and transform into your true form, even if only a little, unless in your magic study class. And you, especially, are not allowed to transform into your true form ever!"

Jack slowly lowered to his knees, bowing his head to the floor. "I'm very, very sorry, Father, Mother." His hands shook slightly as he spoke. "I'll take any punishment you give to me, besides taking Nisha away, without real complaint. I wasn't thinking. I was honestly just reacting and my first reaction was fury."

Unable to help it, to be a silent bystander anymore, Nisha rushed to stand in front of Jack's knelt figure. She placed her body between him and his parents, who stood at the top of the stairs in the entrance hall, looking beautiful and harsh. "It's because of me. One of the other students threatened my life. H-he was only trying to protect me. And...I guess he took it a little too far. I-I'm sorry," she bent low into a quick bow. "I didn't realize he was in so much trouble. I'm sorry again. B-but everything seems a little better. T-the student apologized and I don't think he'll do something like that again."

The two adults studied her critically for several seconds. Nisha struggled to keep a smile on her face, feeling a line sweat break out. But finally, Quentin nodded. "Alright. I won't do exactly what I had planned to do. But the week-long suspension from the school still sticks. And while you aren't at school, you'll be with me, on 'duty'."

Nisha stepped away, catching Jack's reaction to this news. "Really, Dad? You're really going to force me on duty in the middle of the school year?" At the older man's firm nod, he sighed. "Fine. I did say I'd accept anything, so count me in. I'll see you bright and early then, Dad."

Feeling a little lost, Nisha nodded slowly. "Um...thank you for being merciful, sir."

The older version of Jack flashed a mischievous grin. "Oh, I wouldn't say I've been 'merciful'. Also, just call me 'Dad' or whatever. It's so much easier." Waving at his children absent-mindedly, the man wandered off, heading down the halls. Glacia stared at her children for several seconds before following behind her husband.

Jack turned to her, showing off the energy that she was use to seeing from him. "I'll get to be right here, waiting for you when you get home, Nisha!" He sounded like a child with a new, crazy cool toy. "And we'll get to spend our free time studying together! Man, this will be awesome!"

"Just don't forget about being on duty while you're at it," Millie reminded him in a bratty tone. "By the time we come back from school, you'll probably be too tired to do much of anything."

"And then where will all your time with your precious human go?" Jacob finished as if he and Millie were on the same wave-length.

Jack let out a soft sound of worry before shaking his head. "No," he said firmly. "My love for Nisha is great enough to overcome any hardships! Nothing will stop me!" He turned excited, hyper blue eyes to her. "Right, Nisha?"

She coughed, blushing. She wasn't sure what to say? Encourage or discourage him...Which was better and which was worse? His hopeful, puppy-dog like expression tugged at her heartstrings. "Uh, um, sure," she said before she was very certain it was a good idea.

His face exploded into such a bright expression, she had to raise up a hand to block some of it out. It was almost a little crazy, how such a simple word from her could completely life or lower his spirits. "I can't wait! See you at dinner!" he called out before disappearing down the halls at top-speed.

Grace stared after him before glancing at her granddaughter. "Are you sure that was a wise idea?"

"No idea, Nana. I have no idea in the slightest. Now, can you come with me to my room? I want to do some studying but there are a few things I need you to sign, from Headmaster Blake."

Smiling widely, Grace laughed. "Not a love letter of his, I hope."

Nisha fought not to laugh out loud. "Not exactly."

Once in her room, they sat on her bed. Nisha pulled out everything she would need, handing over the papers to Grace that had needed her grandmother's signature. "So, I made three friends today."

"Oh? That's great then."

"Yep. There's Alec, who's a hellhound. Peri, a pegasus. And the Slender Man. They're all in my class as well, so it makes things easier."

Around the pen, Grace's fingers tightened. She sucked in a deep breath. No, she reminded herself. They were safe. They were in the one place none of them would think to look. She'd keep Nisha safe. She had failed at it with Nathan, but she would succeed with Nisha. As long as she never found out, nothing wrong could happen...

"Dear, be cautious of who you make friends with. A lot of the people here may seem nice, but trust me when I tell you that they are anything but. You can't trust anyone else, besides me, alright? Promise me that you won't or that you won't ever let anyone find out who your father is or how he died."

Startled by the sheer intensity coming from her grandmother's grey eyes, Nisha slowly nodded. "A-alright, Nana. I promise I won't, not ever. Is that good?"

Inch by inch, Grace's body began to relax. "Yes...thank you. Ah, yes, you're papers. Here you are, love." She held them out to Nisha. After the papers were gone from her hand, she rose to her feet. "I think I'm going to hunt down a nice evening cup of tea. I'll see you at dinner, love."

Without another word, Nisha watched her leave. She had no idea what they had been about, but another soft knock at her door pulled her thoughts away. "Yes?"

Jack slowly peeked his head in. "Ready to study, buddy?" he grinned. "I'm sorry, that was horrible." Before she could react, he stumbled in, rushing over to her bed. He threw himself on it like a little kid. "Alright! You're all set up! Let's get this study party started."