While Krist, Singto and Gunn were in their rooms, sleeping, talking, doing homework, etc. Benjamin still hadn't returned. Luckily for him, neither had his roommate, or else his absence would've been reported to the dean.

That night at dinner, right after Alice  and her brother were introduced to the school, Benjamin had gone to look for the girl and introduce himself personally. Many guys had probably thought of it, but only he actually tried it.

Alice and her brother had then left the table with a few other teachers immediately after announcements. She was like a celebrity: never seen without her brother or another teacher or Headmaster, not allowed to be around the other boys on school grounds, her name was being talked about constantly, and she even had her own separate room from her brother (which was a lot bigger than the boy's dorms).

Benjamin stood as tall as he could to see over the mass of bodies heading against him. He scanned the area for the group of adults with Alice and her brother, and saw them sneak out the back door of the dinning hall. He had hardly noticed that door until now, but nevertheless, he slipped past the rest of the teachers and out the door just the same.

The minute the door shut behind him, the millions of voices faded into the quiet, night air. He was in the back of the school. He looked around and saw the group heading across the soccer fields in the distance to another building. Giving himself a good hundred feet distance, he followed, hiding behind trees and bushes every couple of yards. The moon was shining a pasty white, lighting the wet grass and trees with pale light. The sky shimmered with shades of blues and purples, dotted lightly with stars. The forest in the background seemed to glow with moonlight and fog.

This was kind of exciting. If the whole 'high school' thing didn't work out, he could always become a ninja or secret agent or something.

As his eyes became adjusted to the dark, he then saw the building in the distance. It was the teachers' building, complete with working facilities, a small computer and work area, and rooms much bigger than anything the students got. The teacher's were even private.

Finally, the building had come clear into view, looming over the fields like a mountain. The group was entering through the back doors. Suddenly, Benjamin realised he'd have no way to get in. The fact that this was breaking a million school rules came into play as well.

Not sure of what to do, he thought about his options: run away and hope nobody notices or run up to Alice and announce his love for her in front of the teachers, thus getting in trouble and possibly suspended; neither option made him very happy.

Suddenly,  noticing Alice had moved to the back of the line. She said something to her brother; he nodded, and went inside without her. She was just standing outside by herself. Alone. Under the wall light. She looked like an angel. An angel in all black.

He cheered quietly. But before he could celebrate his luck, she yelled something under the light.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but I know you're following me. So you can quit the ninja act now."

She knew he wanted to be a ninja. Benjamin smiled and walked out of the shadows, "Hey."

She looked him over, arms folded across her chest, eyebrows narrowed, "Hey."

"So..."

"Why are you following me?"

"Oh I dunno..."

"I don't like it."

"Well obviously you don't mind, because if you did..." he said, still smiling, "...you wouldn't have told your brother to go inside without you so you could wait for me."

"Actually I told him you were following me. He said to find out who you were and tell him."

His expression fell, "Oh."

"But you're cute. So I won't tell."

"Huh?"

Alice's face lightened up and she held out her hand, "I'm Alice ."

"Yeah." He shook her hand, "I'm Mark Benjamin. Call me Mark."

"Cool."

"Yeah."

"So..." She started, looking around cautiously, "Anyone else following me?"

"Nope. Just me." He said proudly.

She laughed, "Well at least you got guts." She playfully punched him in the stomach, "Maybe I'll see you around."

"Okay."

She smiled again, pulling out her faculty card and swiping it under the door, "Later."

"Later."

After his jog from the soccer field to his dorm building, he was drenched in sweat and panting like a dog. It was not a short walk. He walked up the red-carpeted stairs, three sets of them, still panting, and scanned his card. At the green light, he opened the door and stumbled into the dark room.

"Third's probably asleep," He mused, walking quietly in the darkness over to his dresser. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure his roommate was, in fact, asleep, a sudden panic rose in the pit of Benjamin's stomach.

The bed was empty.

As if frozen in time, the bed looked perfectly neat; untouched. The sheets were folded and the pillows were fluffed (what purpose 'fluffing pillows' served, Benjamin had no idea). The shadows twisted and turned around every corner of the room, making it hard to see. Maybe his eyes just hadn't focused. He walked over and placed on hand on the mattress, making sure it was real.

"Third !" he yelled, hoping he'd hear some response like 'I'm over here' or 'I'm in the bathroom, hang on'. But when no response came, he started to panic.

Should he call the deans? Maybe Third was just on a late-night walk, or something. He didn't want to get Third in trouble for nothing. After all, he was just praying himself that Third hadn't called the deans on his absence.

He laughed, maybe Third wanted to meet Alice in person too.

Walking back to his dresser, hr had decided to give his roomie a bit more time. Maybe he'd show up. He changed into his boxer shorts and sprawled out on his bed. Maybe he should call Singto . Or Alex, or Ken ...

What if something happened...?

He lunged forward. "What if Alex, or Ken... damnit... what day is it?"

He rolled over on his stomach and grabbed his planner from the nightstand.

"March 1st." Officially. The clock (next to the lamp) screamed one a.m. in flashing red lights.

He got up and picked up the phone. He pressed the building number: 2, same as his, floor number: 2, room number: 36-e.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Click.

"What the hell..."

"Singto?"

"No."

"Gunn?"

"What?"

"Gimme Singto."

"Fine."

Click.

He smiled; Gunn's just charming at one a.m.

"Hello?"

"It's Mark."

"Wha's goin on?" His voice was slurred, like he was either drunk, or half asleep.

"You know Third ? He's not here." Benjamin paused; maybe if he had rehearsed this he would've noticed it sounded somewhat rash.

"So?"

"What if..."

"..."

"Alex..."

"No." Singto was wide-awake now, "I just saw him. He... looked fine."

"What about Ken? You know how he can get..."

"I dunno. I haven't seen him since we got here." Singto could practically see Benjamin sanding in the middle of his dark room like a lost puppy, "Look, Third's probably fine. There's nothing we can do now anyway. Get some sleep, if he's not back by morning, we'll figure something out. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Did you find your girl?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Night."

"Night."

Click.

Click.

.