Next chapter! You asked for it, here it is. Enjoy laughing, my fellow crazies!

Also, you may be wondering why I had the 'new kid' chapter as the third and not the first. 

The answer is because you see, numbers are a social construct. They mean nothing, and order is merely a single way that our struggling brains attempt to comprehend the vast nothing. You could put whatever chapter you wanted first, and you could call it the third, the fourth, or even the seventh if you wanted. Numbers don't matter. All that matters is your brain's emotional connection to, perhaps, one of the only things that keep you from going crazy. 

But my brain works differently. I'm already a sample of crazy, and this concept is nothing new to me. So while you might think it odd, I will work exactly as I want, thank-you-very-much. 

By the way, this chapter is 4444 words long I'm so proud of myself--

---

As she stepped into the Eating Hall, Vix sighed. 

Here she was again. The new kid. The strange kid. The kid with the yellow eyes, and the black lips, and the burn scars. Not enough to make her a 'scientific anomaly', but enough to make her a 'freak'. 

Here, she had thought it'd be different. That being around so many people who were... different... like her, would stem the flow of gossip. Apparently not, she thought, hearing people chattering and stealing quick glances at her. 

Biting her lip, she stalked over to a lonely table where only four people sat. 

The first and, apparently, the chattiest was a girl who appeared to be an angel, with sugar-white hair cut to her shoulders and tanned skin. Her halo was made of a flower crown and blossoms were nestled in her tan-gold feathered wings, colorful and elegant. Freckles peppered her cheeks right underneath her gold-brown eyes, sweetly placed. 

The one next to her was a small person with long ebony-black hair that they kept fidgeting with and pale skin. They had sleek ravenlike wings that shimmered with undertones of violets and aqua, midnight blue streaking through the feathers. Their eyes were a softly glowing, iridescent white that matched the swirls that went along their ears and neck. 

And then there were two boys, one with messy dirty-blonde hair and friendly heterochromatic eyes-- one a pale, icy winter-blue, and the other a blazing magenta. He had two fluffy ears on top of his head, and a furry, striped raccoon tail. His pale birthmarks, spotted against caramel-brown skin, were similar to that of a raccoon's markings. 

The last one was unfriendly-looking one; he had devilish wings that sparkled purple like amethysts, the leathery webbing between the wings a pale indigo that matched his ivory-like horns. A scaled tail was curled around the bench chair and kept carving lines into the ground. His hair was the red of ripe pomegranates, and his eyes were dark purple, contrasting his pale skin. 

Deciding that this might be her best shot at keeping quiet, as all the other tables were crowded with people, Vix sat down next to them. 

"Hi," she said simply, tugging nervously at the metalworking goggles she always kept on her forehead. "I'm Vixaen, but you can call me Vix."

With that, she started to unpack her lunch. The friendly-looking angel waved at her, her flower crown halo bobbing in the air. "I'm Eldra," she replied, her voice sweet like honey. "And this over here is Sol," she motioned to the black-haired nymph, "that's Milo," now at the raccoonlike boy, "and that's Raphael." The devil nodded shortly at her. 

Vix smiled back. "Nice to meet you," she murmured. "So what brought you here?" 

It was a well-known fact that people in this school, OC Heights, didn't usually come by (much less enroll) unless they didn't find any other option. This isn't just a school for magical beings, you know. It's for the strange ones, the... 'outcasts'. We've all been outcasts at one point, so perhaps you know how that feels. 

"I'm hated and, uh... I was thrown out by my own community, and I couldn't find any other place that might take me in." Vix shrugged as if it were nothing, but in reality, hearing the words fall out of her mouth hurt. A lot. 

Eldra tilted her head. "Really? I'm sorry to hear that. I got lost and my family never bothered to find me, so..." she faded off, sighing. "But now I have a new family, which is great." She glanced at Sol, a small blush on her cheeks. 

When Vix looked at Raphael, he glared back, but there was something deeper than anger in his eyes at the question, Vix could see. Sorrow? Fear? "What about you?" she questioned tentatively. 

"Don't ask me that again," he snapped, his tail lashing slightly in distress. At the scared expression on her face, he folded his wings back and took several deep breaths. "Sorry, I... that's sensitive," he mumbled, taking a bite of his sandwich. Milo put a hand on his shoulder, and they shared a long look. 

"I never fit in anywhere else," Milo admitted, his tail brushing the ground. "I ran away one day, and just... ended up here. The secretary, that person with the six arms and weird tattoos on faer face, fae gave me a place to stay and I just never left."

Talking about me? Yes, yes, hello. How very nice it is to be talked about!

Vix tilted her head. "Fae're kind of weird, aren't fae?" She leaned back, stretching out her arms and yawning widely. She had fangs, long and sharp, and curved like a wolf's. She like them, she thought it made her look cool. They were maybe the only part of being a changeling that she liked. "Anyway, Sol, what about you?"

The nymph, Sol, didn't talk for a long while. "I..." they hesitated, their wings shaking slightly. Then they began to sign something, their shoulders slumped and wings curled half-protectively around them. I don't feel comfortable, I'm sorry, they signed, hands trembling and tears welling up in their eyes. I'm so sorry. 

Eldra sent them a sad look and spread one wing to hug Sol closer. "It's alright," she murmured, brushing her hands through Sol's hair. "Shh."

Vix nodded softly. "No, I'm sorry." Feeling guilt welling up in her, she brought out a silver flask of tequila and took a swig. So much for first impressions. 

The group sat in silence for a long, uncomfortable moment. "So... who are some of the other people in this place?" Vix finally asked. 

"There's another newbie, actually," Milo joked. His ears twitched in a carefree way, and his smile was lopsided as he grinned, fangs bared, at Vix. "Her name is Briar. There was this whole thing with her actually being an Echo, ya know one of those things that can mimic stuff, but I guess she's the real one?" He glanced over at a tall, dark-skinned girl with gauzy, fairy-like wings. "But she's already part of another group."

Ah, yes, I remember that. It was quite a mess, I had to redo all of her papers. Which wasn't exactly hard considering I have six arms, but still pretty annoying and took up an entire afternoon. I was planning to spend that afternoon over at the other college, where I may or may not also work.

As Vix glanced more around the Eating Hall, she could clearly split up the various groups in this school. And of course she could, there were different tables-- everyone knows that if you put a whole bunch of people in one room with several tables, they'll immediately split into different groups. 

There were the popular kids, of course. Vix already knew she had no chance with them-- a girl who looked like a witch, someone with a flower crown and a heart-shaped birthmark on their shoulder, another girl with hair like the starry sky, and a boy with dark tawny-blonde hair and flame-orange eyes. They were chatting, laughing together in exactly the type of friendship Vix knew she would soon be thrown out from. 

The loners, who Vix was probably sitting with. She didn't mind, though, since they seemed nice enough and she probably wouldn't get into trouble if she stayed with them. 

There were, apparently, another group of loners: there was Briar, there was a girl wearing a dark grey sweater with a pastel-pink t-shirt underneath, a girl with choppy, light brown hair and a ragtag aura, and a boy with almond-brown hair, who was holding hands with a taller boy with short black hair and caramel skin. The group talked occasionally but definitely didn't seem as close-knit as some of the others. 

Vix, however, decided she was going to stick with the people around her. 

"So..." she asked through a mouthful of an apple. "What else do you wanna tell me about this school?" She swallowed the piece of apple and wiped her mouth, blinking curiously around at the people. "Is there a forge where I can do some metalwork?"

Raphael squinted at her. "No," he said shortly. Vix opened her mouth, feeling slightly put-down at his tone. "Well, let me... sorry," he mumbled. "There's... I haven't seen one, really. Usually, just prokinetics use the table, and they have no use for a forge."

Vix sighed longingly, her head dropping into her arms. Milo smiled at her, patting her hand with a distinct I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-but-I-hope-it-helps look on his face. She grinned back, shrugging. 

"It... it's fine," she tried, shaking her head. Suddenly, the goggles on her head felt a bit too tight. 

Eldra gave her a searching look. "It's okay if you're disappointed, I'm sure you could get one of the pyros to help you. You're actually really good at making friends. Come to think of it, why are you sitting with us?" Her wings fluffed, shivering a bit. "I mean, we're not exactly... popular," she finished lamely. 

Vix huffed a laugh. "Neither am I," she told Eldra, taking another bite of her apple. It was a very good apple. "I mean, I have eyes that are literally glowing like lava. They're outlined in black. Hell, my lips are black. What kind of person would want to sit with a freak like me?"

Milo tilted his head. "We're all freaks here," he pointed out, stirring his tea. "And I mean, I'm all for having another friend, but... it's just a bit... confusing." He smiled awkwardly, and Raphael spread one wing around him in a slight hug. 

Nodding, Vix played with a strand of her coal-black hair. Long ago, she had dyed it a pale silver like moonbeams, and it had been bleached slightly blonde by the sun so it shone with hints of gold. But she wasn't six anymore, she wasn't living with... them... and she didn't ever, ever need to think about that ever again. 

Well, but you do see that the brain works in mysterious ways-- so you probably will think about it again, definitely against your will, sadly, but you will think about it nonetheless. Unless you would like to purchase some memory pills, available from the nurse office, I can lead you there right-- no, never mind, that's blatant selling of a product. Apologies. 

And should the school really be selling something that might be so... necessary? It seems rather fraudulent to me. But what do I know? I'm only an all-knowing secretary at two separate schools and a mysterious narrator who gives Xeno headaches. 

Vix rubbed her eyes, blowing out a long breath. "Well, yeah, I suppose. But at least you guys actually know what you are."

Raphael raised his eyebrows. "Do I?" he snorted, flapping his wings. "I know there's some devil in me, but there's no explanation for the fact that my wings are purple." He frowned at the wings, stretching one out and curling it back in. 

"True," she murmured. 

The bell rang, or rather, tolled. Sol flinched, nearly dropping the grapes they were holding. Eldra laughed slightly and Sol sent her a wounded glance, grabbing their things and shoving them into a bag. That's mean, Sol signed. 

Eldra wrinkled her nose at the nymph. "Yeah, but it was also funny," she pointed out. 

Sol sighed, and Milo smiled a weirdly cheerful, altogether-too-happy grin. "I'll see you guys at Free Time," he promised, pulling his bag over his shoulder and walking away with the large flow of students. Not too many students were here, Vix knew. Maybe there were sixty or seventy, but as they were all flowing out of the Eating Hall in a big rush like that the crush of people seemed quite intimidating. 

A teacher with long brown hair frowned at all the students who hadn't yet gotten up. "Hurry it up now," she ordered, clapping. 

Rolling her eyes, Vix packed up her things, tossed her apple in the trash, and loaded her bag onto her shoulder. "Alright, so what now?" she mumbled to herself, unfolding her schedule and squinting at the tiny print. 

Time for Geometry, she saw with a flicker of disappointment. She had always loved Art class and Science class, they were amazingly interesting and really helpful with her metalworking experiments. 

But Geometry called, she supposed, and so she waved goodbye to her new... friends? Maybe they were friends. It sounded right. 

---

Vix stumbled, exhausted, to her new dorm room. It had been a long day, and none of her new friends were in any of her classes. Sighing, she slumped against the door and ran her hands up and down the pockmarked surface. Small drawings were made on the dark wooden surface with chalk, and a tiny burn mark ran up the left side of the door. 

The door was promptly opened, and Vix tumbled into the room with a thud. 

"Ow," she complained, sitting up and rubbing her head. "Rude!"

The person laughed. "Oops, sorry." He had hair the color of a fall leaf-- dark auburn, and it faded slowly to a white-blonde at the tips. It tumbled down to brush his shoulders in wavy curls, shining softly in the dim light. His skin was dark brown, and he had winter-blue eyes with tattoos in pale yellow ink pattered up and down his neck and arms. "I'm Agate. What's your name?"

Vix stood up, stretching. "I'm Vixae, but you can call me Vix," she said with a nervous smile. "Nice to meet you. I think I'm your dormmate." 

"That's nice," Agate commented, smiling. "Woah, what happened to your arms?"

Her smile faded. "I'm... they... I like metalworking," she admitted, her gaze flickering from Agate's curious glance to the floor. She raised her arms to look at them, the burns stretching long on each of her arms. 

He tilted his head. "Huh! Cool. I do too, but our art room doesn't have a forge. The stables do, though!" He grinned brightly. 

Vix nodded slowly. "Really? That's nice. Wait-- there are stables?" She glanced back up, momentarily distracted. "Isn't that a fire hazard?"

Agate lit up. It was like he was a pile of brush and someone threw in a match, his tattoos started glowing brightly and the palms of his hands were like lanterns. "Oh, yeah! I have a riding dragon, actually-- her name's Starling, she's amazing. Plus the stables don't have hay, the dragons sleep on rocks. Can I show you around?"

"Sure," Vix replied, her smile growing slightly again. "What's there to show? I've already seen the courtyard."

Agate jumped out of the door, almost tripping down the stairs. "Only one courtyard, Vivi," he countered, leaning against the hallway wall. "There are three. And one of them has a pond-- we might see Sol there, actually. Schools out, they always like to go there."

Vix laughed. "And where Sol is, Eldra usually is, too," she joked. 

He gasped. "They are perfect for each other. I thought I was the only one to notice!" He grinned in a lopsided way, stretching languidly. 

"No, Milo definitely knows too," Vix said thoughtfully. 

"And Cal, probably," Agate offered. "You know, the black-haired popular witch? She's kind of awesome." He grabbed Vix's hand and tugged her down the hallway, a slightly dopey grin on his face. "Now come on, I want to show you around! Where have you already gone?"

Vix yelped in surprise as Agate tugged her after him. Despite actually being a few inches shorter than her, he was surprisingly strong. "No classrooms," she decided, prying his fingers off her hand and raising an eyebrow at him. "I've been to enough classes for a week, that's for sure."

He nodded. "Okay. The library? Have you been to the art room, or the music room, or the gardens, or the--"

Vix huffed a laugh, wrinkling her nose at him. "No, I don't think so," she joked. "There's a lot here, isn't there?"

Agate smiled brightly. "Yeah! That's what makes it so fun, right? You're going to love it here." 

Grinning softly again, Vix tilted her head at him. "Yeah, I think I will." 

Two hours later, the sun was about to set, and Vix and Agate were around two and a half acres away from the campus grounds. 

After showing her around the art room (which was a beautiful, large circular room with octagonal windows), the music room (with actual silver music stands), and the stables (Starling was a dragon the color of plums, with a pale yellow underbelly and large eyes), Agate had taken Vix to go through the forest and look at a large building. 

They were looking around it, as it was around as big as OC Heights, with lots of windows and pretty, simple paths made of pebbles and flattened grass. The doors were large and glass, letting the two look inside to examine the people in the building. 

"This is the other school," Agate whispered. 

Vix blinked. "What's it called?" she asked, glancing from Agate to the building. "And... why is it here? Can't they just expand OC?"

Allow me a fourth-wall break, but there is a strict rule-- OC Heights is for original characters, and this one is for characters seen in TV shows and books and things. A clear difference, right?

Agate shook his head. "Well, I suppose they could, but they don't," he replied. "This is called Fanfae College-- pretty fancy, right?" Vix nodded. "And they say it's for different people, I dunno what they mean."

"Who says that?" Vix asked, confused. "Why are they different?" She squinted at the school, where two boys-- one with curly, white-blonde hair and the other with black hair-- were talking softly. 

Agate shrugged. "I don't know. N always said that. I think fae work here, too." He scuffed his foot on the floor. "I don't want to get seen, can we go?"

Vix nodded. "Sure. Wait, who's N?" 

Me! They're mentioning me! Oh my goodness, hello! Two times in one story. I'm honored. Really. 

The other paused, thinking. "The secretary," he said finally, tilting his head. "Hm. Fae're really cool, but sometimes fae disappears for a couple of days. I think this is where fae goes-- this school."

Vix gazed at the large school building. "Huh," she murmured. 

The doors squeaked open, and Agate jumped. "Run!" he cried playfully, grabbing Vix's hand and tugging her along after him again. "We're going to get caught!"

"Ack!" Vix yelped, laughing. They darted into the woods, ducking under branches, and always being careful to stick to the laid path. Vix dodged a stray tree trunk, dragging Agate out of the way just in time. 

An animal squeaked in alarm as they came running by and Agate jumped, tripping over a log and landing with an oof on the forest floor. Vix rolled her eyes and pulled him upright, then grinned and took off. 

Agate let out a shout of offense and ran after her, trying to catch up, but she was much faster and nimbler than he was. She darted around stray branches, avoided briars with the elegance of a deer, and even rolled cleanly under a low-hanging tree branch only to spring upright again and continue running quickly. 

Vix glanced behind her and saw Agate, trying to catch up to her with a half-amused smile on his face. He got closer as she slowed down, letting him catch up. She smiled teasingly at him, then nodded at the path. "Come on, let's go!" she declared, and Agate nodded. 

The forest got darker and darker as they returned to the school, and the two ran, panting, through its depths. Finally, it started to get lighter again. The sun ducked behind the mountains, the stars and moon twinkling prettily overhead. 

After what seemed like an eternity, they emerged on the other side of the forest, breathing heavily, matching smiles on both of their faces. 

"That was awesome," Agate murmured, letting out a long breath. His tattoos were flickering happily, and he was grinning cheerfully. Vix nodded, rocking back and forth. Her face was flushed from the rush of excitement and adrenaline, and her eyes were bright. 

Somewhere overhead, an owl cooed and made Vix yelp in surprise. "Let's go inside," she suggested, glancing at Agate. 

Yes, yes, away from the creatures of the night and onwards to the creatures of the school! Which isn't much of an improvement-- teachers can be awful sometimes, you know, but at least you'll have the 'safety' of a bed and walls around you. 

Agate grinned. "Sure. That was fun, wasn't it?" 

Vix raised her eyebrows, still breathing heavily. "We just ran, like, a mile through a forest." She smiled. "But yeah, I guess it was fun. So... friends?" she asked, somewhat nervously. 

He blinked. "Of course! Friends." He smiled comfortingly at Vix, and the two walked inside OC Heights. 

Once they were inside the school and nearly at their dorms, Agate bumped into someone. 

Raphael glanced back at them, his wings shifting uncomfortably as Agate yelped and backed up. "Did you have to bump into me?" he asked, frowning, but his eyes were amused.

Agate glanced at Raphael and squeaked. "Uh! No! Sorry for the disturbance? I'll just--"

"Hi, Raphael," Vix greeted him. "Where are you going? Back to your dorm?" She smiled at him and he shrugged with his wings, his tail curling in spiraling loops behind him. 

"Yeah, I guess," he replied. "You?"

Agate opened his mouth as if to say something, but only cast shocked glances between Vix and Raphael. "You two... know each other?" he finally whispered, his voice small and slightly frightened. 

Raphael looked at him in slight confusion and Agate yelped again. 

Vix had to stifle a giggle, though honestly she didn't blame Agate; Raphael could be quite intimidating sometimes. "Yeah, we're friends!" she explained, nudging Raphael. "He is actually really nice."

"Really?" Agate asked, looking startled. "Oh."

Tilting his head, Raphael nodded. "Are you scared?" he asked, his tone light and somewhat teasing. "Of me? You're not the first, but I'm not the person you should be scared of, you do know."

Agate frowned. "What do you mean? I--" he cut himself off as Raphael motioned to Vix, who ran a hand through her hair in a slightly embarrassed motion. 

Raphael grinned at Vix. "Yeah, you should've seen what she did to those guys who were bullying Milo. I would've taken care of them, but you did a good job." He smiled. 

Yes, that tends to happen when you have a giant copper knife in your hand. People are usually pretty scared, of course, even if you don't plan to use it. That's why, in my opinion, people should all carry knives. 

"Oh," Agate murmured. 

Vix shrugged. "It was nothing. I don't like bullies," she admitted. 

Raphael nodded. "Anyway, wouldn't want to disturb your date. Carry on. I'll see you guys later." He flicked his tail and padded off, slipping into a nearby door and shutting it quietly. 

Agate and Vix glanced at each other, a small, shocked blush spreading across their cheeks. "Dating?!" Vix stammered, blinking quickly. "Uh-- what?"

"I-- uh-- I'm going to go inside," Agate said, tripping over his words and hurrying in the dorm room. 

"Agreed," Vix replied faintly, ducking in after him and closing the door behind her. She glanced around for her bed and spotted a bunk bed instead, with cushiony mattresses and a multitude of quilts thrown on top. 

She flopped onto the bed, sighing, her thoughts in a whirl. She thought about Agate, and how their day was together, and what Raphael had said. 

She thought about whether Agate was thinking about the same, and what would happen next. 

It was a bit of a relief when Agate peeked his head over the edge of the bed (he had the top bunk) and blinked at her. 

"So..." he started. "Do you want to talk about that?"

Vix hesitated, then nodded. "Sure," she agreed, sitting up. Agate was upside-down, all his hair flopping over his face. "So, uh... what was that about?"

Agate took a deep breath, blushing bright red. "Look, if you really like me I-- well, you see..."

Vix bit her lip, nodding. "Yes?"

"I'm really sorry but I'm ace, I've never felt romantic or-- sexual attraction to anyone," Agate blurted, then covered his mouth with his hands, blushed an even darker crimson, and as he was not holding on to the edge of the bed anymore he promptly fell in an undignified pile on the floor. 

Vix yelped, jumping out of bed and reaching out a hand to help him up. When he finally stood again, he shifted around, looking quite embarrassed. "I-- uh." He stopped, sighing. "Please don't hate me. I've... I know some people don't like... people like me, and--"

"No, no," Vix rushed. She stuttered to a halt, then continued. "I-- I'm ace, too. I thought you wanted to date me."

Agate stared. "Really?" he said finally. 

She nodded. "Really."

They both blinked, then Vix felt a small smile tugging at her face. The two then burst out laughing, Vix collapsing on the bed and giggling so hard tears came to her eyes. "That's hilarious," she panted through her giggles. 

"Right?" Agate managed, sitting on the edge of her bunk and grinning. "I'm glad we can stay friends. You seem really awesome."

Vix grinned at him, nudging his shoulder with hers. "Aren't I?" she joked. "You too."

Agate smiled back, flopping onto his back on the bed and swinging his feet lazily. "Hey, can I take you exploring tomorrow, too?"

Vix nodded happily. "Of course!"