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The next morning, Clementine woke to snow falling outside his window. But it was the sound coming from the lounge that kept him from getting an extra twenty minutes of sleep. Creaking floorboards, quiet, worried mumbles, and Elliot's voice.

          At first, he tried to roll over and ignore it—he even tried holding his pillow over his head, but nothing drowned out the increasingly annoying noises his roommate was making.

          With an aggravated grumble, Clementine sat up, pulled on his socks and shirt, and then stormed out of his room. Elliot, who was pacing back and forth in the middle of the lounge, immediately looked over at him and frowned in worry.

          "What is it?" he asked as calmly as he could.

          Clutching an opened letter in his hand, Elliot shook his head. "It's from the guy Carmichael was supposed to be staying with."

          "Okay...."

          "He said Carmichael hasn't turned up yet—neither have Bernard or Stanley. They were supposed to meet him at the station on Sunday, but it's been two days now and they still haven't turned up!" he panicked.

          Clementine frowned. "Maybe they got caught up or something," he suggested. "The train could have been delayed. Don't worry so much about it. Carmichael and that can handle themselves."

          "But what if something terrible happened?"

          "I doubt it, Elliot. Just...focus on today and try reaching out again in a few days."

          Elliot sighed deeply, placing the letter down. "Yeah, I guess."

          "Go back to bed—"

          "It's almost time to get up," he interjected. "Maybe we can get an early start? The carriages are already outside." He hurried over to the window and pointed outside. "You can see them...right there."

          Clementine yawned as he headed over to the window and peered outside. He was right. Five black horse-drawn carriages were waiting in the courtyard. Their coachmen were all sitting around a levitating, glowing ball of fire, chatting and laughing as the snow fell around them.

          "Are we even allowed to head out now?" he asked, looking over at Elliot. "Don't we have to wait?"

          "I don't know. Maybe we can go and ask."

          "I don't want to," he mumbled, heading back over to his room. "I'd rather wait—"

          "But if we wait, we might not get one in time! Five carriages between ninety...well...eighty-seven students? Those things can only sit four people, you know."

          Clementine sighed as he turned around and leaned his back against the wall. "Then we'll just go later when one of the carriages return."

          "I want to go now," Elliot insisted. "Please, Clementine? We don't have classes today, so you can take a nap or something when we get back if you're so tired."

          He groaned and rolled his eyes. As much as he wanted to go back to bed, it was true that the sooner he got it over with, the better. So, he waved his hand and headed into his room. "Fine, whatever. Hurry up and get ready. We'll have to go and get Mavis and Mathew, too," he called, pulling on his turtleneck.

          "Yay!" Elliot cheered.

          As the sound of Elliot scrambling to get ready echoed across the dorm, Clementine yawned and slipped his shoes on. Then, as he glanced out at the falling snow, he thought it was probably wise to put on a few extra layers. He snatched his denim sherpa jacket and his aviator hat, the white fur of which matched that on his jacket.

          He left his room, pulled the door shut behind him, and slipped his jacket on.

          "Let's go!" Elliot called excitedly, hurrying over to the door in his patchy, puffy jacket.

          "Don't you have a hat or a scarf or anything?" Clementine asked him as he pulled the dorm door shut and locked it.

          "I didn't really have many clothes," he said with a shrug. "I...I don't mean to be rude, but you said you grew up in an orphanage. How did you get such a nice coat?" he asked, reaching out towards Clementine's sleeve.

          He pulled his arm away and shrugged. "The place was surprisingly generous when they heard I'd gotten into the academy," he lied. In actuality, he'd stolen it—he'd stolen a lot of the things he currently owned. And the rich folk he'd robbed wouldn't miss any of it.

          They made their way to dorm thirty-eight. When Elliot knocked, Mavis opened the door in her nightgown. Elliot swiftly and excitedly explained that they were heading to Ulrora Slope right now, and with an exhilarated cheer, the fae girl rushed back into her room to get ready.

          Then, they moved to the next door—forty. While Elliot kept an eye on Mavis' door, Clementine knocked. The gloomy, towering Mathew answered, staring down at him with his beady black eyes.

          "We're heading out to the carriages now," he told him.

          Mathew smiled crookedly. "Please give me a few moments."

          While Mathew disappeared back into his room to get ready, too, Clementine sighed and leaned back against the wall. He wasn't exactly looking forward to it, and the fact they were heading to a place he'd said he'd grown up in made him feel a little nervous. What if his allies asked him for directions or information? He was sure he'd figure out what to tell them.

          Mavis emerged from her room and locked the door behind her. As she and Elliot quietly squealed excitedly, Clementine moved away from the wall and watched as Mathew came out and joined them. The lanky boy adorned a large fur coat, gloves, and a scarf that reached his knees despite being wrapped around his neck several times. Mavis wore a pink puffy jacket and mittens to match, along with a pair of fur-trimmed boots.

          "Let's go!" Elliot said, rushing past Clementine to lead the way.

          Elliot eagerly led the way through the dormitory hall, down the stairs, and through the academy. When they emerged outside, there were only four carriages left—evidently, someone had the same idea as them. They headed over to the front carriage, and when one of the four coachmen approached them, Elliot smiled up at him.

          "We'd like to head to Ulrora Slope, please!"

          The man smirked, brushing the snow from his beard. "All right, kids. Climb in and we'll head off right away. It might get a little bumpy on the way down, though."

          Clementine sighed as Elliot and Mavis made strange little happy sounds, scurrying into the carriage once Mathew had pulled the door open. He invited Clementine to get in next, but he shook his head, telling him he could follow Elliot in. The lanky boy did so, and then, Clementine stepped up onto the ledge, gripped the door, and headed in. But as he went to pull it shut—

          "Wait for me," came a voice that forced a scowl onto Clementine's tired face. His eyes followed the leather-gloved hand that gripped the door, and as he set his sights on Sebastien, his scowl thickened.

          "Who invited you?" Elliot questioned, glaring at him.

          In a silver fox chapka hat and a fur-trimmed leather jacket to match, Sebastien ignored Elliot's comment and Clementine's glare and climbed into the carriage. "Move over, babe," he muttered, practically sitting on Clementine's lap before he had a chance to move.

          "Hey!" he complained, shuffling aside into Mathew, who grunted and moved over as much as he could.

          Sebastien pulled the door shut and exhaled deeply, slamming his hands down on his knees. "You weren't gonna leave without me, were you?" he asked with a smirk, glancing over at Clementine.

          "You invited him?" Elliot questioned as Mavis giggled.

          He opened his mouth to speak—

          "Of course he did," Sebastien said, moving his arm around Clementine's shoulders. "Why wouldn't he?"

          With an irritated grunt, Clementine tried to shake his arm off, but there was no room between himself and Mathew. He tried lifting his hand to grip his arm and pry it off, but the carriage jolted and started moving, causing everyone to shake around a little. In the moment of unexpected motion, Sebastien gripped Clementine's wrist and leaned a little closer.

          "We should probably stay close, right, little mouse?" he whispered into his ear.

          "Get off me," he grumbled, jabbing his elbow into Sebastien's side, but his leather jacket shielded him from his attack.

          Sebastien laughed quietly but moved his arm from around him and rested his hands in his lap. Clementine hoped they'd stay there.

          Mavis giggled quietly. "So, where are you from—o-oh...we don't even know your name. What name do you claim?"

          "Sebastien," he answered.

          "Mavis," she said, holding out her hand.

          He shook it.

          "Mathew," Mathew greeted, and as he shook Sebastien's hand, he frowned sceptically.

          "Well...I'm Elliot," Elliot mumbled hesitantly, holding his hand out.

          Sebastien shook it, but as he did, something of an intrigued smile stretched across his face. "I'm from here—from Traeychester. There's a small town up the ridge."

          "Is there?" Elliot grumbled.

          "How did you and Clemytine meet?" she asked.

          With a quiet laugh, Sebastien smirked over at Clementine. "Why don't you tell them that story, babe?"

          He gritted his teeth. "Stop calling me that," he growled.

          "Yeah, take a hint," Elliot warned.

          "How long have you two been friends?" Mathew asked.

          As the carriage was pulled over something rather large, they all shook around and gripped onto one another...and when the road seemed to smoothen out again, Clementine snarled irritably and pried Sebastien's hand from his wrist as if he were a tick.

          "We met on day two," Sebastien answered. "We—"

          "We bumped into each other in the courtyard," Clementine lied. He wasn't about to let this guy tell everyone he'd strangled him.

          "Tut-tut. What have I told you about lying, babe?"

          "Stop—"

          "Clem and I were the ones Gregory Flint saw fervently exploring one another's mouths in the bathroom."

          Clementine scowled in horrific embarrassment as his allies' reactions pierced his eardrums. Mavis gasped, Mathew blurted some sort of 'what?', and Elliot almost screamed words Clementine couldn't make out. And of course, Sebastien laughed.

          He shook his head, gritting his teeth in anger as he tried to banish his embarrassment. "No, we were not!" he insisted sternly.

          "Don't be so embarrassed about it, babe," Sebastien said with a sigh, moving his arm around his shoulder again. "It's okay to be gay," he drawled, a fake tone of understanding in his voice.

          "I'm not!"

          "Are you?" Mavis asked, giggling.

          "It's okay, Clementine," Mathew said with a nod. "We accept you."

          "I'm not gay!"

          "Are you actually?" Elliot asked, his voice high-pitched for some reason Clementine couldn't fathom.

          "'Course he is," Sebastien said, patting his leg with his free hand. "I told you they'd be fine with it."

          Clementine was lost for words. He felt angry, embarrassed, and all he wanted to do was punch Sebastien's face, throw him out of the carriage, and then storm out of it himself.

          Before he could stop her, Mavis reached out and grabbed the hand he wasn't currently using to try and pry Sebastien off him. "Clemytine," she said softly as everyone stopped staring at Clementine and looked at her instead. "If you like other boys, that's okay. We are your friends, even if you are gay."

          He frowned almost in distress. "I...I'm not," he breathed—all these emotions and his struggle to get Sebastien off him had exhausted him.

          "Yeah, it's fine," Elliot grumbled.

          "You got a problem?" Sebastien snapped, glaring at him.

          "N-no, I...no," Elliot insisted, shaking his head.

          "This is exciting!" Mavis cheered, clapping her hands.

          As she went on to rant about how brave he was for coming out, Clementine groaned and jabbed his elbow into Sebastien again. "Get off me," he growled under his breath. "The hell are you playing at?"

          Sebastien smirked. "Nothing at all."

          "So...are you boyfriends?" Elliot questioned.

          "No!" Clementine growled before Sebastien could answer. "We are not."

          Elliot's face seemed to lighten up a little.

          "He's just embarrassed," Sebastien said, leaning the side of his head on Clementine's. "He thought you guys wouldn't accept him."

          Clementine tried to shove him away and huffed in frustration. "I'm not—"

          The carriage came to an abrupt halt.

          "Are we here?" Elliot asked, pulling the curtain away from the window to look outside.

          Sebastien unlocked the door and pushed it open, revealing a snowy courtyard outside. People hurried past with baskets and grocery bags, some walking dogs, others with prams.

          "Yep," the white-haired kid said. Then, he climbed out.

          "Yay!" Mavis cheered, hurrying out after him.

          Mathew got out next, and then Elliot.

          Clementine sighed irritably, trying to compose himself. He was seething with anger, and as much as he wanted to unleash it, he knew it was better not to. He was, however, going to give Sebastien a piece of his mind when he got the chance.

          With an aggravated huff, he buttoned up his coat and climbed out of the carriage. It was going to be a long morning.

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