Dream's POV

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Darkness. All I saw was pitch black surrounding me. The darkness was comforting, making my reality seem peaceful as I stayed in what seemed to be my eternal rest.  was here in the darkness while being hugged by the warmth. 

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I groaned at the sound, the troublesome sound that has disrupted my sleep. I opened my eyes slowly, blinding lights were the first thing introduced from the darkness making my eyes shut tightly. I reopened my eyes to the blinding lights and blinked a few times to reduce the blindness. The first thing that I saw after the bright fading blindness was my old grey alarm clock, it had two buttons on the top and one dial on the side, the numbers were bright green and blinking. 

Beep! Beep! Beep!

 I slammed my hand down on the stupid alarm effectively shutting it up. My hand fell from the alarm to the side of the bed, I slowly sat up, feeling the aches and pains from sleep. I rubbed my eyes and looked around my room as more of my vision returned I looked around the room. The desk in my room had papers scattered across the top, shelves were in disarray. The rest of the room was clean and organized except for the few pieces of clothing scattered across the floor.  I moved out of the warmth of my bed, going towards the closet and grabbing out my clothes for the day. I picked out a white t-shirt with black ripped jeans, then grabbed my old green zip up sweatshirt. 

I gabbed my bag from the back of the chair and made my way through the small hallway. The apartment had a small hallway the connected two single bedrooms across from each other and a bathroom, it lead out into a living room that had a kitchen separated by a counter with spiny chairs facing into the kitchen. I went into the small bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, the minty taste repulsed on my tongue. In the mirror I ruffled my blonde locks, turning my head to the side I looked at the skin behind my ear, a black smile tattoo plastered my skin, moving my hair to hide the tattoo I left the bathroom. 

I came out into the living room, noticing movement in the kitchen I looked and saw Karl. He was wearing a flannel and ripped jeans. "Morning Dream, how was your night?" His voice was tired and bored, I understood the feeling. 2 of 4 years at college and it was starting to become routine, routine is boring. 

"Same as last." My voice rasped as I spoke, saliva built in the back of my throat from the strawberry aroma that filled the room, I swallowed thickly from the scent. I heard the toaster pop and Karl walk to the kitchen chairs with pop tarts on a plate. I threw my bag next to Karl's on the couch before making my way over to a chair next to Karl, I silently grabbed one of his pop tarts and took a bite. He gave a grunt of distaste but said nothing else as we ate in heavy silence. Karl and I both finished the food and just sat, staring off into space, his voice brought me back. 

"Ready to put up this charade again." It was a statement not a question, I sighed and nodded moving off the chair and towards the couch, swooping my bag from the couch and moved to the door, slipping on my black combat boots. I heard fading footsteps and the sound of a plate clattering in the sink, Karl emerged from around the corner, grabbing his bag from the couch before putting his purple and orange vans on. As Karl stood back up I opened the creaky door to our apartment, it was a worn down door which showed the age of the building. We moved quietly throughout the halls, avoiding the neighbors to the best of our ability. Last night many celebrated the last night of freedom before returning to college, we tend to avoid them because of their "immature" nature per say. 

Outside the morning dew still hadn't let up, it was windy and wet outside which countered the humid air that drowned the area. We walked down the sidewalk, moving with the other students who were either hungover, tired, or wishing for time to be reversed. I guess time itself really is a double edged sword, no matter what you do with it you lose it, but if you go back and attempt to change it all you have done is create another curve in the one road that ends at the same dark unavoidable end.

"Let's get some coffee." Karl's voice brought me away from my thoughts, his path changed and I followed. Coffee seemed like it was exactly what I needed, to keep me awake through this horrible day as I sit and listen to people blabber about things that could be learned from a book or video or even just talking about knowledge I already have. Another time to reminisce in my hate for people who speak like they know everything, when in reality they know very little. Oh look, there I went again. 

"You ok?"

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"People."

Karl didn't push on, seemingly understanding what I was talking about. 

We walked into the little café and waited in line, there were two people standing in front of us. One male had jet black hair and had a head band around his head, he was wearing a black turtleneck with a white shirt on top with black jeans. The other male had brown hair and clout goggles he was wearing a white turtle neck with a blue shirt on top and blue jeans. They were arguing with each other and then took forever to order...it was slightly annoying. Once they had finally ordered Karl and I greeted Katie, the manager, she knew our order as we worked the night shift, often running into her between the shifts. The males were already gone by the time our coffee was done, taking the hot drinks from one of the day workers we walked to the lecture hall, sipping the drinks in silence, the temperature raised as the morning started to pass.  Inside our fist lecture hall of the day it was almost completely empty. A few students were already here before us but they didn't pay us much attention. 

Karl and I sat in the back corner, the same two people from earlier sitting near the front left of the hall. A new male by the other two from earlier was wearing a white sweatshirt and had blonde hair. They chatted like friends, must have known each other for a while. A male in the middle of the classroom had orange hair with a black jacket, I think he was wearing a white shirt underneath, but next to him was a guy wearing a grey sweatshirt with a shark on the back and he had blackish brown hair. Not as chatty as the other 3 but still seemed to engage on small talk. 

In the opposite corner of us was a male with pink hair, he was reading a book and wearing a black hoodie with some white lettering on the front. After we sat down, two more people came into the classroom, one male with curly brown hair and was wearing a yellow sweater with a burgundy beanie and the female with pink hair and a black long sleeve they sat in front of the pink haired male. By their body language I would say childhood friends- 

"You're doing it again." Karl whispered following my eyes towards the pair next to pinky, chatting with him but he seemed to ignore them, interesting. He pinched my arm and gave me a stern look as a warning, I huffed and focused on the white board. Other kids filled the class around 10 minutes before class started. They were chatting ideally with each other before the professor came into the classroom, her presence quieted the classroom. 

"Hello there everyone! My name is Captain Puffy for those of you who don't know, I will start off with attendance, then you have the class to yourselves because it's the first day I don't want you to be too worked up on the first day. Ok first up Abbigail!" As Puffy ran down the list of names I scanned the classroom and waited to hear the names of the new kids. Puffy had ran through all of the names on her list but none of the strangers were called. Captain Puffy  looked around the classroom and noticed the new kids from earlier, her eyes shined in confusion for a second before returning to their normal cheeriness. "Oh!," She hid her surprise well but I knew from her eyes she was panicking. "Some new faces, let me check for another list." I quickly got out my notebook, waiting for Puffy to say each strangers name.

"Techno" The male with long pink hair raised his hand, there were a few stares towards him from around the room. The two males from the coffee shop earlier in particular.

Techno-Long pink hair

"Wilbur" The tall male who sat in front of 'Techno', the one who had the childhood friend...

Wilbur-Curly brown hair

"Niki" the female next to 'Wilbur' raised her hand with a smile. The childhood friend. 

Niki-Light pink hair

"Punz" the male with the white sweatshirt and blonde hair raised his hand 

Punz-Blonde "gangster"

"George" the blue shirt male from earlier raised his hand 

George-Clout glasses, British

"Sapnap" he was the male from earlier with jet black hair and white shirt.

Sapnap-Bandana, Jet black hair

"Fundy" the orange haired male with the black jacket raised his hand 

Fundy-Orange hair, Black jacket w/ rainbow

"Foolish" he was the guy with the grey sweatshirt that had a shark on the back. 

Foolish-Black hair, brown eyes, tall

All of them were very attractive, it's just an observation, one that's not hard to notice seeing as how the rest of the class-mainly the girls- have noticed it too. I just don't understand it though. I understand the attraction to them, I feel it too but to so easily show it makes you vulnerable and who really wants to be venerable. It allows people to use that vulnerability against you which just seems counter productive. Maybe it's just because I'm against the whole ideal of love, it just seems unrealistic to have one true love. Although I could be wrong it's just my opinion, but I am always open to argument.

"Surprised to see new faces in this class, especially since this is a special requirement class but seeing how you were all placed here I am going to assume that you have either met the requirements or were placed under special circumstances. Either way, welcome to my class. Since you weren't here last year I will need to place you in a work group for the year, Ill have two of the returners start the group and get you guys going with any questions you have," Puffy scanned the room for a second, her eyes locked with mine for a second but I just looked away towards the wall of the lecture hall. Puffy sighed before she closed her eyes, understanding what might happen. "...any volunteers?" 

I watched all the girls hands shoot up, giggling and passing glances towards the new guys. They seemed unamused by their flirtatious looks and small waves. I rolled my eyes before looking around the room, my eyes moved across the walls, searching for something unknown. My search ended when I locked eyes with Karl, the glance showed me the mischief in Karl's face, with a devious smile he raised his hand, I stared back at him for a second with disbelief. It was a completely reckless decision but I could understand why he wanted to do it, figure out the unknown players. 

Puffy chuckled looking at the hands, she spotted Karl's hand in the back. Looking between us she smiled. "Karl and Dream, you two can move to their work group, please answer any questions they have," I kept my face neutral, looking over at Karl who had plastered happiness across his face. The volunteers seemed to grumble at her choice but no one said anything about it. "After class would the new group stay after, I would like to speak with you guys." Murmurs of agreement went throughout the group. Puffy just mainly talked about what would happen during the semester so nothing extravagant. 

Our class finally ended a few minutes over time, I just zoned out the entire class. Nothing interesting was going to happen today, it was only a review. Puffy released the class, I-much like everyone else- was ready to leave. Looking down at my notebook I saw the opened pages, filled with notes on the stranger. Probably not the best thing to keep open for people to see but at the same time no one else would see it besides Karl who is next to me. I closed the notebook and put it in my bag, Karl followed in suite, packing up what little things he had out. 

"We have to meet with the group before we leave." Karl mentioned as I stood up, of course, Puffy did want to talk to us and the strangers. As people left the hall we held back watching them leave, whispering and chatting happily as they moved out the room. One man though, came over to me, it was the great partier of the college. Jared. I hate Jared, he's loud, pushy and a womanizer. 

"Hey Dream~" I have shown my distaste for him and the party life he lives but it never stops him from inviting me every time, always trying to change my mind. He handed me a slip of paper, the most recent party he is throwing would be my guess, all information on this one paper. "Figured I should invite you, maybe you could bring the new ones and Karl too."

"I will think about it." 

"You say that every time, you should really come there this weekend. I'll make it worth your time."

I raised an eyebrow at his implication, he winked and left the hall, smiling like an idiot. What a child, Karl made a face before walking down to Puffy's desk, the whole group was there already. "Now I want you guy's to spend sometime together and get to know each other, please feel free to ask any questions you have." I nodded, scanning the people around me I saw no discomfort in their body language, even their facial features stayed neutral. 

 Everyone waited for a few seconds to see if she would say anything else, sensing her silence I started to walk out with Karl following behind. There was no point in staying in the hall, by staying in the hall longer would make the situation more awkward. I heard shuffled footsteps follow behind us as we moved out of the hall, I'm going to assume they will follow us until we stop. Outside the hall, it was bright and the sun was shinning down, kissing the earth with her heat. Karl stopped me, turning us towards the group of strangers. 

"Do you guys have any questions at the moment?" Karl looked at the group with enthusiasm, his hyper attitude lifted the attitude of some, their expressions were less neutral and more natural. All of them shook their heads, I guess they couldn't have many questions on the first day, we have barely started.  

"When do all of you have your next class?" I asked, though it was troublesome we did have to get to know them. Of course there was a variation of answers were said but the earliest was at 1 o'clock. 

"Well I have to go visit another professor here but would you like to join us for lunch?" They all nodded, I felt relieved, it would be easy to waste time with the trip then lunch. 

"We should split up into two groups and meet back up for lunch, I have to grab a book and can show some of them around while some of you can go visit with Dream." His plan sounded good so I looked back at the group, waiting for their response. 

"Sure, but how will you split us up?" I believe it was Wilbur who spoke up, I really couldn't tell though. I hadn't gotten all the names down, it was our first time meeting. 

"Do any of you have Professor Schlatt?"  Fundy, Techno, George, Punz, and Foolish all raised their hands. This would be my group then which meant that Karl would take Wilbur, Niki, and Sapnap. 

We are heading to the business building. This is Professor Schlatt's class, he was a regular at the café and talked to me and Karl a lot. His oversharing made me understand his whole class schedule, he didn't have a class today so I walked into his lecture hall without knocking, he was sleeping on his desk without a care in the world. I rolled my eyes and walked up to his desk; it was a mess, books and papers scattered all over the top, his drawers were probably the same; I grabbed one of the books on his desk and held it about a foot off the surface, letting it drop by his head, it slammed into the desk with a loud bang in the quiet classroom.

Schlatt shot up off his desk and fell out of his seat. "What the fuck?!" They looked shocked at how I treated the sleeping Professor, while Schlatt looked around confused. He looked at me and gave off a long cackle. "You almost gave me a heart attack. What brings you here during my nap hour?" 

I crossed my arms and looked at Schlatt who had made no move to get up from the grimy, chip ridden floor. "It's almost 11 and I am showing some of your students around because they wanted to meet you and see the room." I held out my hand, he used it to get up off the dirty floor. I motioned towards the group over my shoulder, his eyes followed scanning the crowd of student, most had gotten over their initial shock and just watched our interaction.  

"Right..." He said under his breath. "How are you guys doing?" Foolish opened his mouth before Schlatt held his hand up to silence any answers.  "Actually don't answer, I don't care or get paid enough." I squinted at him after he said that, he gave me the side eye before looking back at the group. 

"What can I help you with?" George started to ask something about the class, everyone engaged in Shlatt's mini lecture, I leaned on his desk and just zoned out from the boring conversation. I did notice Schlatt was talking to the rest of them and leading them off somewhere in the classroom. I pulled out my phone from my pocket and sat in one of the lecture chairs, waiting for them to come back.

"Ahem."

I heard someone clear their throat, in front of me was Techno. When I said all of the group was attractive he was the most attractive one of them all. Long pink hair, a sculpted face with a chiseled jaw, the scar across his nose, some scruff on his chin, thin pink lips, and finally the most beautiful, kind, cold rouge eyes you had ever seen. 

"Yes?" He's hot but he interrupted my video so I was a little pissed. 

"Can I sit down? I asked you earlier but you didn't answer." His voice is deeper then I thought it would be. 

"It's a free country." His face made no change to my sarcastic joke, his stupidly flawless face kept a monotonous expression. Now that kind of ticked me off, but it also intrigued me. He had quite the poker face but that also made him more unusual. You don't get a poker face like that just by living life. 

"I saw you reading a book earlier, what were you reading." I looked back down at my phone waiting for his answer, I intend to find out more things about our new and unknown players. 

"Art of War, by Su-" 

"Sun Tzu." It was a book choice for those who wanted peace of mind during battle, different ways to learn about your enemy while learning about yourself. 

"You have heard of it before?"

"Yes, never had a chance to read it though. Is it good?" It was a odd book, but I'd read it again.

"Yes, I would say its quite good."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Techno looking at me, the rouge red eyes boring into the side of my head. He did finally turn away and left us in a silence that was spread through out the class room, it was heavy and not comfortable just silent. The silent room was engrossed with the escalating voices of multiple individuals until Schlatt and the rest of them came back in with loud voices. I stood up and walked over to the group, Techno followed in suit. 

"Having fun I see."

Schlatt stopped laughing and just glared at me, I held a playful smile and looked back towards the group. "We should leave, we still have to meet back up with the rest of the group for lunch." Schlatt nodded and patted me on the back as he walked over to his desk. 

"It was nice to meet all of you. I will see you guys sometime soon." Everyone said their goodbyes to Schlatt and followed me to the lunch spot. As we were walking I looked at my watch and saw the time was 11:50. I got that eerie feeling someone was watching me, I looked behind me to see Techno staring at me with his rouge red eyes. They seemed to be scanning me, down to every detail of my clothing. I brush it off on the outside, I know I am "cute" and "relatively attractive" as Karl has pointed it out many times but I don't want to be cute and have everyone looking at me like Techno is now. I sighed as I looked back and locked eyes with him, I quickly adverted his gaze just as quickly. I was losing my façade, looking back I notice for once his monotonous face changed into a small smirk which only made his stupidly flawless face even handsome, I started to feel uncomfortable from the staring, I turned my head back towards the rest of the group who started to get ahead of me. 

"Embarrassed?" An all too familiar voice teased next to me. I felt a chill travel up my back, with a small breath in and out, I grabbed ahold of whatever senses I had left and nudged him away from me.

"Not at all." I sped up my walking to catch up with the rest of the group. I kept my hands in the pockets of my sweatshirt and didn't look back at him once until we reached the diner. We arrived at the diner seeing the whole group together, laughing, and talking. Karl was the center of attention, I noticed one of the boys paying him some extra attention. Something to ask about later. When Karl did notice us he came up and hugged me, I hugged him back and sat down next to him while everyone made room for each other. The group seemed very awkward with each other but that didn't stop Karl from talking. It seemed like they all knew each other, the way one person would say one thing and the rest would scowl at their words. I also noticed Techno's small glances towards me every few minutes, I brushed it off and zoned back into Karl's stories. Karl had informed me that he did order pizza before we came so it would arrive around the time we were there, sadly Karl had to end his story.

"Your awfully quiet today." I looked over at Karl who grabbed a piece of pizza, he could always tell when something was wrong.

"I'm fine, I'll just fill you in later when we are alone." He looked at me skeptically but nodded, once people had their share of pizza he started his story again. 

I listened to the story I had heard a thousand times, it never seized to amaze me. Storytelling is a funny thing, so many variations of the same story that had been told through thousands of generations. Piling onto the same nonsense and ultimately losing its value of the original story. 

Karl's story's never change, it feels like they have been the same; down to the last word; since the beginning of time