To say the campus was big was an understatement. Jeremy couldn't manage to show Vinny everything before sundown. He focused on what was important for now, making sure he knew where all his classes would be tomorrow. Being that these creatures could so rarely leave the safety of the school, Kuza and the teachers had put efforts into making sure they had as much as possible here. Of course, that still didn't keep some from journeying off on occasion.

"What dorm house were you assigned?" Jeremy asked.

"Uhhm," Vinny fumbled through a stack of papers the head master had loaded him with. "Apollo."

He smiled brightly. "That's my house! Head Master tries his best to keep predators and prey away from each other. I mean, no one would actually eat you or anything like that, but you might get taunted and knocked around. Sometimes, if you play your cards right, you can make friends with one of the predators and they'll protect you."

"You wouldn't happen to have any predator friends you can lend to me?" He joked.

"Yeah, but she's a snake, sooo..."

Vinny shivered, "Yeah, no. No thanks. I'm sure she's a very nice snake, but I'd rather not."

Jeremy giggled softly. As they walked towards a row of houses spaced out, he pointed towards one with a lot more plants in front than the others. "That's it. Unless you're nocturnal, Head Master usually expects we're inside by sundown. That goes especially for animals like us."

"I thought you said nobody'd eat us?"

A distinctive owl hoot echoed through the sky. Jeremy turned around, glancing up. He gave a wave to the white feathered bird. "None of the other animal spirits will harm you. That's not to say there aren't things that will. Even the nocturnals like Angelo, that was him by the way, aren't allowed out late unless it's clear skies. Thankfully the rain cleared up enough tonight."

"The Head Master seems a little strict. When I got here, there were these two guys that walked out of his office and looked scared shitless. I don't know what they did but he definitely put them back in their place."

They walked up the front of the house. Jeremy pulled out his key to unlock the door. "What'd they look like?" He asked.

"Both had long hair. Pale as shit. Smaller ears on one, bigger on the other. I think they had tails but I can't remember." Vinny replied.

"It was probably Ricky and Ryan. They get into trouble a lot, and they're partners in crime. What else would you expect from a raccoon and a fox?" He shrugged, then pushed the door open.

The color quickly drained from Jeremy's face upon entering his dorm house. Vinny walked in behind him, seeing an blonde woman standing at the bottom of the stairs. Her arms were crossed and heel tapping impatiently. She was actually quite a beautiful gal, and rather small for Jeremy to be so damn afraid of.

As she spoke, an Australian accent emerged. "Home a little late, aren't we?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am!" He quickly sputtered out, "Head Master asked me to show the new student around campus. I have the texts from Chris to prove it if you want to see them."

Jeremy started to shuffle around in his pockets for his phone, but she raised her hand to signal him to stop. "Thanks quite alright." She gently smiled, "I was just messing with you. Do you seriously think I'd be that crude to you? I was more worried than anything else."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "To keep us from getting into trouble and all, each dorm has a teacher assigned to it. There's more female teachers at the school than male, so there are a few of the boys dorms with dorm mothers like us. Which is honestly kind of a good thing. I've heard some stories from some of the other guys that'll give you nightmares. Anyways, this is our dorm mother, Ms. Act."

"But, you can just call me Miss Courtney." She extended her hand out.

Being that Vinny hadn't had much human interaction, let alone female interaction, he was a little hesitant. Her skin was so soft, he noted. She smelled good too. "My name's Vinny. I guess I live here now."

"We're very happy to have you. I'll let Jeremy show you to your room and introduce you to everyone. I'm going to go get started on dinner."

She stepped down from the landing at the bottom of the stairs and started to walk back to the kitchen. Her dress was a little... short, for a teacher, but at least she was nice. Jeremy began to walk up the narrow stairs and Vinny cautiously followed.

"There's an open bed in my room if you'd like to take it. There's others though, if you'd rather be with someone else. I'd understand. No one wants to room with me because I'm a bit of a restless sleeper."

How could he say no after that? It was heartbreaking to hear. If anyone knew what it was like to be alone and disregarded, it was Vinny. Of course he agreed. The room wasn't terribly big, but it was a lot better than where he was previously living. If you could even call that living. He finally had an actually bed, in a house with working electricity and lights. And, dare he say it, he finally had a friend.

Vinny sat down on the bed and looked around, humbled. Jeremy's half of the room was decorated with string lights and a big tapestry was hung over his bed. There was a painting of a forest clearing on it.

Jeremy caught him staring at it. He hopped on his bed, pointing to it. "Isn't it beautiful? Head Master made it for me."

"He made that for you?"

"Yeah. He gives one to every student once they've been here long enough. I'm sure he'll give you one eventually, too." Jeremy sat down and pulled one of his stuffed animals into his lap. "I know he seems mean, but he cares about all of us a lot. I think part of the reason why he waits a few months to make these is because I wants to wait to get to know us first. Everyone's tapestry is special to them. I know this one probably looks like just some random forest, but it's actually the forest I grew up in."

Vinny scoffed, "I don't know what he'd be able to make for me. It's not like I grew up anywhere nice. I lived in a trash pile."

Jeremy studying him with sympathy. He had the kindest look in his eyes, always. "I'm sure there's something that means a lot to you, even if you don't know it yet. You'll find it."

He shrugged it off and let the quite fall between them for a minute. Vinny decided it was best to change the subject and asked, "So, what's Miss Courtney teach anyways?"

"Choir and theater. Can I see your schedule? If it's okay with you."

"Yeah." He replied, locating it again from the papers he had.

Jeremy's eyes scanned over it carefully. "Oh!" He said in a delighted tone. Then followed it up with a shocked, "Oh?" and a more concerned, "Oh..."

"What? What is it?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. I was just looking at what teachers you have. Professor Sandelin is really nice. He makes math not terrible. Ms. Mattel is pretty nice, as long as you laugh at her jokes and don't do anything stupid. Same goes for Ms. Del Rio. She hates dumb people, and if you don't do your work, she will punish you for it. Just be glad you don't have Professor Eckerström."

"Why?" He asked.

Suddenly there was some loud yelling from the house next door. They both turned their heads towards their single window. Across the way, they could see the lights flicker for just a second.

"We're all pretty sure he's fucking crazy. Not just crazy, but fucking crazy. One time Chris told me he's actually one of the smartest teachers on the staff, and he can be nice if you catch him when he's not losing his mind." Jeremy explained.

"Isn't it worse for a crazy person to be super smart?"

"...Probably! But as far as I know he has no plans to blow up the school or anything." He handed Vinny his schedule back. "I saw Head Master has you meeting with the therapist after classes tomorrow."

"Yeah." Vinny sighed, "I guess to make sure I'm not crazy, too. Is she nice?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it. She's one of the most understanding people you'll ever meet. And extremely delightful. Maybe a little bit too much. Even with how crazy some of the staff can be, they all care about us a lot. We all needed a home when we came here, and they understand that. They're all kind of our foster parents. You remember the two I mentioned earlier, Ricky and Ryan? They'd probably never admit it, but when no one's looking, Professor Eckerström is pretty much their father. I think that's why he gives them such a hard time."

Jeremy glanced back out the window. At the house next door, the window was quickly opened, Ricky and Ryan leaning out to try to get some fresh air. There was some... Smoke, coming out of their room. The Professor grabbed them both by the backs of their shirts and dragged them back in. Jeremy and Vinny figured they were probably better off not knowing...

"I've seen more people in one day than I have in my entire life." Vinny quietly admitted. "It's a lot, but I'm happy I decided to come."

"I'm happy you did too." Jeremy smiled brightly, "Welcome home."