One year later:

As Jake's cab pulled up to the University, his stomach began to get butterflies. This was the first time he had ever been nervous about anything, well, besides his dreams.

Even the thought of breaking a wild horse didn't make him as nervous as this did. He attributed it to this being his first time away from home and his first plane ride, which he thought he handled rather well.

Jake had tried to maintain his excitement from the airport to the campus, as he watched the palm trees pass him by from the back seat of the cab.

The sky was a perfect blue with only a few puffy white clouds scattered around. The sun shone bright and he had to put on his new Ray Ban sunglasses.

*******************************

The cab dropped him off at the address Jake gave him for the Registration Office.

Jake picked up his duffel bag and swung it over his shoulder. "Watch it!" a pretty blonde exclaimed as she passed him by.

It seemed like hundreds of people were scattered on the front lawn of the Registration Office. Jake saw a vast majority of them were pretty blondes. Good luck finding Aurora here, he thought.

He quickly scolded himself and wiped that thought out of his head. He wasn't going to think about her anymore. This was a new place and a new life for him. There was no reason to bring his old life to California. He was starting over.

Tables were lined up and organized alphabetically with letters printed and taped to them. Students were lining up in front of each letter in long lines. Jake figured that was where he needed to go, so he picked up the rest of his heavy bags and waddled to the line for the R's.

Jake stood in line for about 20 minutes, sweat running down his back from the hot sun, before it was his turn. A girl at the counter passed him a small bottle of water as she had done for those that had been in front of him.

"Thanks." Jake unscrewed the top and took a long thirsty drink.

"Name?" the girl replied with an annoyed tone.

He determined that she was irritated at having to sit outside all day in the oppressing heat.

"Jake Rourke," he answered and took another long drink water. He sighed in contentment as his hot, dry mouth was quenched.

Her brown eyes skimmed down the list. She pushed her long blonde bangs out of her way. Her face was starting to sunburn.

"Oh great, not another one," she muttered in disgust.

"What's wrong?" Jake peered down at the list to try and figure it out.

He pushed down his feelings of concern. He would find a way, whatever the problem was. This was his one chance to start a new life.

"The University overbooked. They always do, hoping that students will decide to go elsewhere or find off-campus housing."

Jake stepped back in shock. "What?! So, wait... are you telling me I don't have a room?!"

"Well, you do," the girl hesitated a moment, "but you're sharing a two-person room with three other guys," she cleared her throat, "The University will have the issue resolved as they find out how many students are actually here in a couple weeks. They will find other arrangements for the students inconvenienced if there aren't enough rooms," she said in a sing-song, I'm tired of repeating this all day long, voice. She smiled sympathetically at him. "Sorry."

"Great," Jake sighed. Not a great start to his new life.

"You're assigned to Room 204, Washington house. It's in President's Alley. That way," she pointed, handed him an envelope and a black and white photocopied map.

"Right. Thanks," he said sarcastically and picked up his stuff. He waddled away under the heavy load.

Jake weaved in and out of the human traffic jam and easily found his dorm. Again, fighting through a sea of college-aged kids, he found his way to his room.

****************************

Three guys were in the room already moving around furniture and discussing how the heck they were going to fit four people in the tiny room. They looked up when Jake came in.

Jake felt like he was suddenly under a microscope."Uh...hi."

"Howdy, cowboy," a blonde guy who Jake classified as a "surfer dude",  greeted him in a bad Texas accent, as he took note of Jake's worn jeans and cowboy boots.

"I'm a farm boy actually," Jake drawled. "Iowa born and bred," he continued as scanned the room for a place to drop his belongings.

"Well, Iowa," a preppy looking guy said. "Welcome. I'm Steve," he reached out to shake Jake's hand.

"Jake." He shook the guy's hand back.

Steve had slicked back jet black hair and the body of a high school football player. He was one of those guys you'd see on a TV show as the captain of the football team wearing a letterman jacket.

The "surfer dude" spoke up. "Hey, dude, I'm Lucas," he reached for Jake's hand and shook it.

Lucas released Jake's hand and pointed, "That's Chris," indicating a guy that was trying to attach an end of a bunk bed. Chris nodded and continued what he was doing.

"And Bob," Lucas motioned to the tall and skinny blonde guy that just came into the room and tossed a mattress on the top bunk of one of the sets of beds. He looked to be a basketball player.

"Bob's in the room next to us," Lucas explained. Bob grunted and left the room.

The guys spent the rest of the day setting up the room so they could semi-comfortably fit all four of them. Suitcases remained packed and hidden under the bottom bunk beds, and the dressers ended up in the back alley of the dorm building. It seemed a lot of other students had the same idea, as desks and dressers were all pushed to the back wall and stacked on top or against each other.

Jake and his roommates had decided to keep the two assigned desks in the room so there'd be a place to set down all the other stuff the guys had brought to college. All their class books, notebooks, laptops, e-readers and just overall knick-knacks from home all got stacked on top of each other.

Jake ended up being assigned the bottom bunk bed underneath Chris. And Steve had the other bottom bunk with Lucas on the top. It was tight, but Jake would deal with it. That's what college was about trying new things and rolling with the punches.

That night Jake had his first college dinner. They had decided, instead of going to the dining hall, to eat on the lower level of the student union building, where they had a selection of various fast food chains to choose from. Some other students had come in later complaining about the dining hall food and had congratulated Jake and his friends for being smart enough to skip it.

Jake liked his roommates okay, especially Chris, who seemed to have a quiet way about him. He never said a bad word about anybody, which Jake respected.

They spent the remainder of the evening walking around campus and trying to check out girls. Of course, most of the girls wouldn't talk to them very long. Happily, Jake realized it wasn't because of him, but because the other guys were being a bit obnoxious.

Later, an exhausted Jake sprawled out in his bunk and immediately fell asleep.

*******************************

The next day classes began and Jake's first class was biology. He didn't want to take bio first thing in the morning, but that was the best way it had worked out in his schedule.

The class was held in a lecture hall with over two hundred students. That was almost as big as his high school. The professor didn't keep them long for that first class. He just gave them the class syllabus and told them what to expect for the year.

One thing to expect was that this was the only time he would be letting them out early. Jake could tell this was not going to be a fun class.

Jake killed the extra time between classes walking around the campus to learn where all the buildings were, so he wouldn't be late for any of his next classes. At the original end time of his bio class, he set out for his next class.

The time between the two classes was a half hour. For Jake, this was a good thing since it was quite a distance to walk to his next class, "Intro to Parapsychology". The psychology buildings were set back a bit from the rest of the campus.

Jake was really excited about this class. It was the only one he really cared about in the fifteen credits he was able to sign up for that semester.

*******************************

He arrived almost ten minutes before class was to start, but already there were several students sitting at their desks talking among themselves.

A black haired guy, dressed all in black and wearing sunglasses, sat in the back of the room and gave Jake an evil grin as he walked in.

Jake stepped back in surprise from the look. It was almost like the guy knew his secret and hated him for it. That was impossible as no one in California knew who he was. Not here. He left all that behind in Iowa, hadn't he?

Jake frowned, looking over his shoulder to see if maybe the guy was looking at someone else. But no, he was the only one in the doorway.

The others in the guy's group looked up to see what their companion was scowling at.

A beautiful girl with wavy black hair sat closest to the guy. She wore a tight red halter top and short black mini skirt. Her legs were crossed, showing off her black high-heeled boots that reached to her knees. Her eyes had black eyeliner and her attractive plump lips were as red as her top.

She looked at Jake with some admiration, as if she found him to be good looking. Jake felt good about that as she was the first girl, in a long while, to look at him in admiration.

Back home, all the girls learned about him soon enough, and they wouldn't have anything to do with him. Jake had only a handful of dates to his name. They had all ended abruptly when other people interfered and warned the girl about him.

The beautiful, raven-haired girl leaned over to whisper something into the ear of the scowling guy. Whatever she said made the guy's lips turn up into even more of a snarl, and his eyes turn into more like sharp daggers.

Dear God, he prayed he wasn't her boyfriend and that she hadn't told him that she found him, in any way, attractive.

Jake had been through that before and he didn't feel any desire to be dragged into a fight with this guy. His whole vibe screamed dangerous.

Jake tore his gaze away from them and looked at the other guys in the aisle across from them.

He immediately began classifying each one by their appearance. The first guy was another "surfer dude" with shaggy, light brown hair that stuck out past his ears. His shorts looked like a red swimsuit. And the white tank top shirt with the red cross over the chest looked like it belonged to a lifeguard. The guy had the look and build of a swimmer with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He smiled at Jake in a friendly hello then leaned over towards the other two in order to say something to them.

Jake moved his eyes to the front of the surfer dude, where a guy with caramel colored skin and black hair sat with his head turned as he watched the others.

The, possibly Hispanic, guy wore simple jean shorts and a tan colored tee-shirt with a faded design. He turned to give Jake a quick once over before returning to his conversation with the "surfer dude".

The guy didn't seem to find his friends' behavior in the least bit out of the ordinary, which made Jake start to relax. If they were that way all the time with everyone, it meant they didn't see him as being any different than anyone else.

Yet, glancing at the guy with the dark sunglasses, Jake knew at least that guy didn't like him for some reason. He was certain the guy was still looking at him behind the dark shades, as Jake could still feel his attentive gaze on him. And he was sure it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Stifling his uneasiness with the guy, Jake found a seat far away from him taking a seat at the front of the room. Normally, he would have selected a seat in the back, but since that guy was sitting back there Jake would rather be in front.

They still had time before class was to start, so he took out his notebook and began doodling as he waited for the professor, and more students, to arrive.

Jake was a pretty good artist and he usually sketched when he was bored in class and every other chance he had some free time.

His shrink had also recommended it, years ago, as some kind of therapy. If Jake got what he was feeling, or even what he dreamt about on paper, maybe it wouldn't stay locked up in his head.

Jake looked up as a figure walked past him and brushed against his shoulder lightly. He felt a sudden rush of energy throughout his body. Intrigued, he turned to look at who had caused such a reaction.

Walking towards the back of the room, he saw a beautiful feminine shape in a white sundress. Her long, golden blonde curls fell down her back to her waist.

She sat down in front of the very group that had been eyeballing Jake. She greeted them with obvious affection and turned in her seat to face the front.

Jake felt his mouth start to drool. She was a total knockout. She didn't wear much makeup but she didn't need to, as she had a natural beauty. He thought her eyes to be green as she turned to look towards the front. Her eyes met his, and he was stunned by the warmth and happiness he felt radiating from her. For a moment they just looked at each other until she suddenly glanced back at her friends.

Jake noticed that guy in black had leaned over to put a hand on her shoulder. He said something softly by her ear, and she nodded a couple times saying something back.

Turning back to face the front, she gave Jake, a friendly but shy smile. All thoughts of the class escaped him as he looked at her.

Jake was startled out of his  admiration of her, as he heard a door shut firmly. The room fell silent and he turned to face the front of the classroom fully.

The gentleman that stood in front of the room looked to be in his early forties. His hair was brown with just a touch of gray showing near his ears. He wore jeans, a short-sleeved collared shirt, and a pair of beat-up tennis shoes.

He carelessly tossed a briefcase on the desk, walked around to the front of the desk, and leaned against it. The professor studied the students until the already quiet room fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Jake shrunk slightly in his seat as the professor's gaze met his. His breath held as the professor's inquisitive eyes seemed to reach down to his very soul as if he knew all of Jake's secrets. He was relieved when the man finally released his gaze on him and moved on to the group behind him.

Jake released his breath shakily, not knowing why the professor's gaze had caused him to feel so unsettled. He seemed to be looking at each and every one of the students that way; slowly and deliberately, looking over each student, assessing if they would be good enough to take his class.

The professor turned around and went to the chalkboard. He wrote in large elegant script "Dr. Brian Airheart". He walked to the front of the desk again and leaned against it.

"This is Intro to Parapsychology," the professor finally spoke in an authoritative voice. His eyes scanned the room almost daring anyone to dispute the fact.

"Even though it is Intro, there's nothing Intro about it," he stood up straight and paced the front of the classroom.

"Some of you may have signed up thinking this course is an easy 'A'. That all you do is watch horror movies all semester. Well, think again!" he snapped.

He glared accusingly at the room. "This is a serious course with serious studies, papers, and examinations. If you signed up for this class with no seriousness to study or to learn, then you need to reschedule yourself into another class because you don't belong in mine!" he tossed the chalk that he'd been holding at the chalkboard, breaking it in half as it bounced off the board and fell into the metal tray.

The professor's eyes moved from face to face to face, again. Some students looked away from him, as he seemed to be looking directly into each of their eyes. As if he was determining each of their reasons to be in the class.

"I'm going to get some coffee," he said, taking a step towards the door, "As you can tell, I am not a morning person," he made a slight grin at his attempt at a joke after the stern lecture. Jake glanced at the clock. It was already after eleven o'clock.

"When I get back, those of you that don't wish to be in my class should be gone," he said firmly, still looking at the room as if everyone in it wasn't planning to take the class seriously. He spread his hands out, palms up, in a shrug, "There will be no hard feelings," he said as if he really didn't care. He glanced at his watch, "You have five minutes to decide," he said and then left the room.

After he left, the room buzzed with students talking rapidly to their neighbors. Suddenly, and as if on cue, chairs started scraping back and about half the room got up and left.

Jake stared at the half empty room in disbelief. He'd never seen students just get up and leave a classroom before, and certainly not in a mass exodus.

And yeah, Jake was afraid he was going to be stuck with an awful professor, but he really wanted to take this class. He really was hoping it could help him.

Jake heard a giggle from the back and he turned to see the "surfer dude" shaking his head, before making a shushing noise at the black haired girl. She laughed again and covered her mouth as the surfer guy shook his head again.

Jake looked at them puzzled. It was a strange group. They did seem to all be friends but, from what Jake could tell, they were all very different in personality.

He looked at them again; the gorgeous blonde was deeply engaged in a conversation with the guy in all black. They seemed to be arguing about something.

The door opened and the professor walked in sipping his coffee in sheer bliss. He skimmed the room with his eyes, "Ah, that's better!" he exclaimed with a smile.

He walked across the classroom back towards his desk, "You hooligans in the back! Move up closer!" the professor motioned in a large waving gesture to come forward to the group in the back.

They all quickly got out of their seats except the guy in black that took his time getting up slowly.

The beautiful blonde girl moved to the seat across from Jake, giving him a hesitant smile as she did so.

Jake smiled back glad she wanted to sit next to him. It had been a long time since a girl had taken any interest in him. At least, he hoped she was interested. Maybe she just wanted a better seat to see the blackboard.

The guy with the attitude pushed his way through the others to sit directly behind her. He sent Jake a clear "hands off" look.

Jake was amazed he could tell that from behind the guy's dark glasses. But there was a clear vibe of warning emanating off of him. Jake glanced at the girl who spun around in her seat and glared at the guy in sunglasses. The guy merely smiled at the girl innocently until she turned back around.

Jake nearly panicked as his eyes went black. He blinked and as his vision cleared, the once sunlit room now was in near darkness.

The professor had moved to the windows, while the class was moving into their new seats, and closed the blinds.

The guy in sunglasses sat down in his seat and sighed as if in relief.

Jake wondered if the guy was hurt in some way, the way he sighed was like standing had been too much effort and sitting down was just what he needed. That would certainly explain the guy's constant scowl on his face.

The professor turned on the lights and Jake could see again. The black haired girl had moved to sit behind the guy in sunglasses, the surfer dude and neutral guy sat now behind Jake. Other students had moved to take the seats at the front, leaving the back few rows empty.

"Now, class, don't worry. I'm not all that bad. I just put on a show to get rid of the riff-raff," he eyed the group giving them a friendly smile. "But you don't seem so bad," he added.

The professor turned to his desk and pulled out the class syllabus from his briefcase and handed them to the blonde sitting next to Jake. She got up and passed them out quickly, handing a stack to each student in the front row seat to pass back to the student behind them and so forth.

"These are our orders for the semester, troops," Dr. Airheart said, as the girl returned to her seat. As you can see, we will be watching some horror movies. Just not for the entire semester," he grinned, rubbing his hands together.

"First assignment! I want a paper by each of you for our next class. I want you to write about what you believe in. Whether it is ghosts, goblins, things that go bump in the night, whatever. It doesn't matter how long it is. I just want to get a feeling from all of you what your interests are. Then we can modify our orders," he said, looking at the paper in disgust.

He tossed the syllabus on the desk as if what the university wanted him to teach the class was insignificant. "Okay?" he asked the class his eyebrow lifting. "Okay," he answered his own question. "See you on Wednesday," he said with a warm, friendly smile, his eyes flickering from one student to the next.

His demeanor was so different from the beginning of class. While Jake was almost terrified he would regret signing up for the class, in the beginning, he was now looking forward to it again. The professor seemed like a great guy.

The students looked around at each other as to see who would get up first to leave. The gorgeous blonde next to Jake slowly stood up first and everyone else then followed her lead out the door.

He passed the group as he made his way out of the building. The dark haired girl had the blonde in a hug with the rest of their group watching.

"It's going to be okay," he heard the dark haired girl tell the blonde.

Jake hoped everything was okay. He couldn't ask as he didn't know her. He hoped a family member hadn't died or something.

She turned towards him wiping away some tears. Her tear-filled eyes met Jake's, but then the guy in black put an arm around her and led her through the doors opposite of Jake that other people were entering through.

His other professors weren't nearly as interesting as Dr. Airheart had been. He had Intro to Parapsychology every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He was glad he signed up for three days instead of the twice a week course.

He was rather amused by the professor. One minute he was totally serious and the next he was joking. It also meant that he could get to know this blonde better.

Because of Aurora, he always had a thing for blondes. He went after every blonde he could, hoping that one of them would tell him that they were his Aurora. But none had ever done so. Yet.

*******************************

Although his roommates were nice enough, he didn't care for his tight living arrangements. His room at home was small enough, in fact, it was about the same size, but at home, it was only him living in the room and not three other big guys sharing the space with him. Well, Chris wasn't that big, but he still took up space. And he tended to shake the bed as he turned in his sleep, which aggravated Jake.

He barely slept a wink, as whenever he drifted off into a deep sleep he was suddenly jarred awake by the shaking bed. And, there was still no word from the Registration office on when they would be given separate rooms.

*******************************

By Wednesday, Jake was anxious to get to his parapsychology class. He wrote what he thought to be a good, but cautious, paper. He didn't want to reveal too much about himself and his "problems". Jake laid it on the desk with some other papers that were already piled up there.

The group that had eyeballed him during the last class sat in the same seats that they had moved to during the previous class. Jake thought it best he take the same seat as well.

As he took his seat, the "surfer dude" tapped him on the shoulder. Jake turned to look at him in question.

"Hey, I'm George," he said with a friendly smile, extending his hand.

"Jake Rourke," he said, smiling back as he shook the guy's hand. It was the first time, besides his roommates, that anyone had introduced themselves.

He knew he should get out and try to make some friends, but he never had any luck in that area his whole life. He didn't know how to just approach someone and become their friend.

"This is Ray," George said, gesturing with his thumb to the Hispanic looking guy sitting behind him. Ray said "hey" and looked back down at the paper he was writing on.

"Still doing his paper," George mock whispered behind a hand. Ray shook his head but continued his writing.

"That's Raven," George said, indicating the girl across from them. The foxy black haired girl extended her slender hand to him. Jake shook it.

"Pleasure to meet you, Jake," she said with a mischievous smile that lit up her eyes.

Raven's eyes were a deep dark blue like Jake's, and he couldn't help but smile back at her as she looked at him curiously.

She was a beautiful girl who could be a model if she wanted to be. He supposed she was just as beautiful as the blonde, but the blonde was more his type

"And that is Tony," George said, gesturing towards the guy in sunglasses and who was, again, dressed all in black.

"Hello," Tony said through clenched teeth, not looking at him. He didn't extend a hand to him either, even though he was close enough.

"Hey," Jake said back, wondering what his problem with him was. Jake had never even spoken to the guy and he instantly disliked him?

The beautiful blonde came into the room all flustered. Today she wore white shorts and a green tank top. She carried a large cup on top of her tall stack of books. She placed it on the professor's desk and then sat down in the chair across and next to Jake.

"Emily," George finished, gesturing to her.

"Huh?" she asked, looking back at George questioningly.

"I'm making introductions," George explained as if she should already know that.

"Oh.Yeah. Um..Hi, Emily," she said, shaking Jake's hand really quickly and flustered before pulling away. She sorted through her books and set all but a notebook onto the floor next to her.

"Been to the bookstore, have you, Em?" Raven said with an amused smile.

"Yeah, I was just trying to get some of my books. The bookstore's a zoo! But I didn't have time to go to the car to dump them off before class," Emily replied with a tired expression on her face. "I'm missing some but..."

"I'm sure Brian wouldn't have minded you being late," Raven said, grinning again. Emily didn't have time to answer as the professor came into the room.

He picked up the cup from his desk, smelled it,and smiled. "A good start to the day," He toastedthe class and took several long gulps. 

"This week, I'm being easy on you. Today we'll be watching the first half of "Poltergeist" and Friday the second half," he said and took another long pull of coffee.

He set the cup back on his desk before facing the class seriously. "For Monday, I want you to have written a short paper on what you think in the movie is possible and what you believe to be impossible. Again, the length is no matter," he looked around the room as if to make sure everyone understood.

"While you enjoy your movie, I'll be reading your first assignment. If you want soda and popcorn, or whatever, you can have a five-minute break while I try to figure out this thing," he said, lightly kicking an antiquated TV stand with an even older VCR and TV.

"Vending machines are to the left down the hall," he said, before bending to set up the VCR.

After the movie, the professor turned back on the lights that had been turned off or dimmed.

"Ugh!" the class all moaned as their eyes adjusted from the darkness to the light.

"Sorry," the professor muttered sincerely.

He walked to the front of his desk again and leaned against it. He picked up the pile of papers. "These are pretty good. I'm impressed," he said, waving the pile to the class.

"I think we'll have a good semester. You all have interesting ideas," he smiled proudly at them.

"By the way, you all can call me Brian, I hate all the formality of Dr. Airheart," he said with a grimace and started passing back the papers.

"There's no grade on these, they were more for informational purposes, but I did write some comments or suggestions on some of your papers," he handed Jake his paper.

At the top written in red ink was, "Great ideas! But it feels like you're being too cautious. Don't be afraid to speak your mind."

Jake looked up at the professor. It was funny that the professor, Brian, had picked up that Jake was holding back about what he believed was possible in a supernatural world.

He hadn't wanted the professor to think that he was a freak either. From his note, Jake surmised that the professor didn't mind a bit of freakiness. Jake smiled looking up from his paper to the professor.

He was surprised to see Brian had been watching him. He sent Jake a wink as if he understood that Jake understood what he wanted. Freaky. Jake held back a grin. He could do freaky.

The professor turned and handed out the last of the papers. "Class dismissed!" Brian said when he was empty-handed. Everyone got up and picked up their things.

Tony and Raven helped Emily pick up all the books that she had lugged in. "Thanks, guys," she muttered, tucking her books under her arm.

"Meet you at Mess Hall 2!" George called to them as they headed toward the door, slinging a backpack over his shoulder.

"Yeah," his group replied as they all went out into the hall.

George stopped and turned to Jake. "Are you coming to lunch with us?" he asked with a friendly smile.

Jake blinked in surprise. "Uh, um, yeah, uh, sure, thanks," Jake replied, astounded that any of them would want his company. Nobody had for a long, long time.

*******************************

Jake, George, and Ray walked to Mess Hall 2, which Jake hadn't been to yet. He had been to the other cafeteria, called Mess Hall 1 which was closer to his dorm, for all his meals.

This one was closer to the center of campus. It looked new and more like a shopping mall than a mess hall, Jake thought.

The building was white and had a lot of tinted windows around it. Inside was a flurry of activity, there were stores in the building, some were clothing stores, and others were a university bookstore, a bank, a music store and a library on the top floor. The bottom floor was the mess hall with several different fast food and deli places to choose from.

"Let's get our food and then meet in the back picnic area," George said. Ray nodded in agreement.

"Where's that?" Jake asked.

George pointed to a door in the far corner of the mess hall area. "Through that door, it leads outside: there are picnic tables back there. Real nice," he said as they walked. "I don't think too many people have discovered it yet."

"I hardly ever see anyone back there," Ray spoke up.

Jake looked at him puzzled over the fact they'd only been in school a few days. For Ray to say he hardly ever saw anyone there didn't make sense.

"We did the summer session," Ray explained.

Jake had thought of starting school early by taking the summer session, but Jake's parents hadn't allowed it. They said he'd be leaving soon enough: there wasn't any reason for him to start any earlier than necessary.

"Oh. Okay. I'll find it," Jake said with a shrug.

*******************************

He got his lunch, a pizza, and soda and easily made his way to the picnic area. George already was seated at a large table with a stack of tacos on his tray and a drink as large as Jake's. Jake sat down next to him and immediately dug into his pizza, as he was starving.

"You know," George spoke up, breaking into Jake's concentration on stuffing his face, "don't mind Tony," George said gently.

"He's a good guy once you get to know him. He just doesn't know you yet. It takes him time to trust someone new," George said, stabbing his straw in his cup top.

"What says I mind him?" Jake answered, doing the same to his cup.

He knew about trust. It had to be earned. But also, not trusting someone because you didn't know them wasn't any way to live. Jake generally trusted people unless they let him down. Until they let him down, he corrected himself with a frown.

"Everyone minds Tony," George replied, and gave Jake a grin.

Jake smiled back amused. "Speak of the devil," Jake muttered as the door slammed open and hit the concrete wall with a loud bang. He winced, his ears ringing from the sound.

"Tony!" Emily exclaimed with a gasp.

She maneuvered gracefully around him and examined the wall as if looking for damage. Finding none, she sent Tony a look of disapproval, and then rushed over to the table where Jake and George sat.

Emily set her tray on the table and climbed onto the bench in front of George. She had a pizza and soda on her orange tray which was the same meal Jake had gotten. Jake smiled sure this was a sign they would have more things in common.

Tony had he eased himself onto the grassy ground under a tree and leaned against the tree in relaxation. He didn't have anything to eat with him, just a large soda. He adjusted his sunglasses and took a sip of his drink. It felt to Jake as if Tony was glaring at him from behind those sunglasses.

Ray joined them with a cheeseburger and soda on his tray. "Seems like everyone's after burgers today. That line was brutal!" he exclaimed.

"Should have gone for tacos, man," George told him with a grin and took a loud bite out of one.

"Where's Raven?" Emily asked, looking around.

"She's stuck in the burger line. She was about five people after me. She'll be a couple more minutes," Ray said and bit into his burger hungrily.

"So, Jake, where you from?" George asked casually.

"Iowa," Jake answered, clearing his throat. He knew he'd be asked about his past, but he really didn't want to talk about it. He wanted more than anything to forget about Iowa.

"Really? So how does sunny California compare with Iowa?" George asked.

"It's hotter," Jake replied. The group around the table chuckled.

"Are you from around here?" Jake asked George curiously.

He could see George really being his friend. So far, he'd been the only one really trying to make an effort to be friends with him. Jake didn't want to blow it. He wanted friends. He needed friends. He wanted to belong somewhere.

"I've been all over the United States," George answered. "My dad's work has kept us moving," he said, then ticked off his fingers, "San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, and now back to Cali again. I never liked moving much, but hopefully, I'm settling here," he said with a grin and looked over the group, surprisingly, including Tony in the fond look.

"And you?" Jake asked, turning his head to Emily.

"I'm from here. Well not here, but here," she said, waving in a general direction, then looked down at her tray.

"Tony's from Italy," Raven piped in as she sat down next to Ray. "Scoot over, handsome," she bumped Ray with her hip until he moved over.

"He hadn't gotten to me yet," Tony stated matter-of-factually.

"Well, you're the most traveled of us all living internationally. I was just getting to the good part and skipping over our dull hometowns," Raven said, smiling back at him sweetly, and took a big bite of her burger.

Tony made a face at her in disgust.

"God, I was starving, those jerks working the service counter," Raven grumbled as she chewed. "It's like they take pride in making us starve."

"Where are you from in Italy?" Jake asked Tony politely.

"Rome. Ever heard of it?" Tony answered back, not as politely.

"I think I may have," Jake retorted sarcastically.

"So, where are you staying? Do you have off-campus housing or are you stuck in a dorm?" Raven asked him.

Jake noticed that all eyes turned suddenly to her as she spoke. She made an innocent face at them.

"Well, they stuck me in a hole with three other guys in the dorm. They're supposed to be getting back to us when they can spread us out, but that hasn't happened yet. They said maybe in a couple of weeks, as people drop out."

"That sucks," Ray commented.

"Sure does. We're crammed in like sardines, but I don't have any choice. They said maybe I can check out off-campus housing and they'll reimburse me the room fee, but I haven't had time to look yet. I'm planning on looking this weekend," Jake said and took a bite of his pizza.

"Okay?" Emily spoke up and looked around at the group.

Jake looked up. "Huh?"

All but Tony and Jake said "Yeah" to Emily. Emily wasn't looking at them or Jake though. Her eyes were set on Tony.

"Whatever," Tony said with a sigh, his hands going up in a defenseless shrug.

"What?" Jake asked, anxious to know what they all knew that he didn't.

Emily turned her gaze from Tony to Jake. Jake noticed the change in her green eyes. With Tony, they had looked hard and demanding for a moment. When she looked at him her eyes turned soft and comforting.

"We have a room at our house. We'd like to offer it to you, if you want it, if you like it that is."

"You have a house?!" Jake exclaimed stunned.

They had a house?! And they wanted him to live with them? He couldn't believe his luck. First, he was making friends, at least he hoped he was, and now he had a place to live with those same friends as roommates.

Emily smiled at him. "Yeah. My grandmother left me her house in her will. It's fully paid off. I ask for rent for food and utilities, but I don't charge as much as the dorms. We all share the house. And the chores. We each have our own rooms. There's an empty room ready for you if you want it."

"You're kidding!" Jake exclaimed. "That's great!" Jake replied, holding himself back from jumping off the bench and hugging them all. He'd even hug Tony at this news.

Raven put up her hand in a stop motion. "Hold on there, cowboy. We do have some rules at the house you'll have to follow," she said, glancing at Tony.

"You all live together?" Jake asked, ignoring her statement and the scowl Tony had sent her.

He wasn't going to let Tony's bad attitude bring him down. And how bad could the rules be with a bunch of college kids? Replace the toilet paper roll? Piece of cake. He did that at home.

Raven spoke up again "We all live there. Even Tony," she said teasingly, glancing over at Tony and smiling sweetly.

He grinned devilishly back to her. "Lock your bedroom door tonight, sweetheart," he told her menacingly.

"But then, you can't come in and have your wicked way with me," she said, blinking at him as if in confusion. Like that had been the plan all along. She smiled seductively at Tony.

"In your dreams, woman." Tony shot back.

"Every night, gorgeous," she put her chin on her hand and batted her eyelashes at him.

Tony laughed. It was the first time Jake saw him truly smile. It lit up the guy's usually scowling face.

"I'm going to lose my lunch," Ray said, crumpling up a wrapper.

"Back to what we were saying," Emily said, sending a warning look between Raven and Tony.

"We have rules, but not quite the same as at the dorms. Just rules to how we've all agreed to live. Being coed and obviously of various "characters" in our group." Emily looked around the group pointedly.

Tony pointed to himself and raised an eyebrow in question.

Emily sighed loudly in frustration and put her hands over her face, shaking her head. Tony chuckled.

George glared at Tony before turning to Jake. "Why don't you check out the house first; and then, if you like it, we'll tell you the rules and go from there."

"Sure," Jake replied, amused at the exchange between them all.

"Why don't you come for dinner tonight?" Emily said, lifting her head. "I suspect we'll all be there." She looked to each of them and stopping at Tony.

"Yeah," they all replied.

Tony nodded in agreement, though he didn't look happy about it, at least the others had.

"You cooking, Em?" Ray asked, his face lit up in expectation.

Emily laughed. "If you help," she said in challenge

Ray groaned. "Pizza anyone?" he asked. They laughed.

"Pizza's good by me," Jake said. "You don't have to put yourselves out on my behalf."

"No trouble," Emily replied. "Tell you what. We can order pizza and I'll bake something for dessert."

Raven leaned across the table and grabbed Jake's arm, shaking it excitedly, "That's even better than dinner, take it!"

"Sounds good," Jake said with a smile.

Raven squeezed his arm lightly before letting go. He looked at her curiously, but she had turned her attention to picking a leaf off the back of Ray's shirt.

He smiled again, liking that someone was touching him in some type of friendly affection. Only his parents and sister did that. And it was nice coming from an attractive girl, though he'd rather it be Emily touching him in some way.

George scribbled on a sheet of paper in his notebook and tore the page out. "Here's our address. Can you get there? Or do you need a lift?" he asked, handing it to Jake.

Looking at the address, Jake clueless as to where it was. "I'll manage," he said with a shrug.

Emily got up and threw her trash in the can near their table. "Well, I've got American Lit in a few minutes, Raven, you too. Let's go," Emily patted the back of Raven's shoulder.

She glanced at Jake. "Bye," she said shyly. Her earlier confidence was gone as she spoke to Jake one on one, rather than how easily she had explained about the house on the group's behalf.

Jake grinned. "See you tonight."

Emily nodded. She hesitated, her lips opening slightly, as she seemed to want to say something else but didn't know how.

Raven appeared at her side, Jake hadn't noticed her getting up. She took Emily by the arm. "Let's go, Em. There's a sexy guy in the third row I want to talk to." Raven winked at Jake over her shoulder "We can talk to this one later."

"I've got bio, too," George said, getting up and patted Jake on the back. "We'll see you tonight, Jake."

"Hey! George, what time?" Jake asked, scrambling out of his seat, hurrying after George, as Jake hadn't asked them and they hadn't said.

"Ah, six, six-thirty is good. We usually eat about then," George called over his shoulder as he walked towards Ray.

"Okay. Sounds good. I'll see you all then," Jake told them with a wave.

Ray waved back to Jake, smiling, as George caught up to him. Jake turned to say goodbye to Tony, but he wasn't by the tree. He looked around and didn't see him anywhere. Tony had slipped away while Jake was saying goodbye to the others.

Jake didn't know why it bothered him, but it did. He was used to people not wanting to be his friend. But, Tony's instant dislike of Jake, without knowing of his dreams and how they came true, didn't make sense. Why didn't Tony like him?

Jake hoped that whatever Tony's problem with him was that it wouldn't be an issue with the rest of the group as he really liked them.

And it would be nice to come home to two beautiful girls, especially since they didn't know about his "problems" as the town called it behind Jake's back.

Even though he'd overheard girls back home saying that he was cute or good looking and even one time, yummy, he didn't have much luck in the dating game. Once the girls that he was lucky enough to get a date with found out about him, they no longer wanted anything to do with him.

Here, since no one knew anything about him, he had a brand new start. And, he was determined to make friends, and get a girlfriend, just like any other typical college guy would do.

*******************************

Raven put her arm around Emily's shoulders as they walked to class. "This is so cool seeing your predictions coming true."

"What is your problem?" Emily spun around, startling Raven. She dropped her arm to see who Emily was mad at, as she knew she hadn't done anything today. She glanced over her shoulder. She should have known.

"Nothing," Tony said, shaking his head.

"You knew he was coming, Tony. It's not like I didn't give you fair warning," Emily said, crossing her arms.

Tony sighed. "I know."

"I won't have you scaring him off," Emily's eyes flashed in anger.

"Maybe he needs to be scared off! Before he becomes a part of it," Tony retorted just as angrily, "Spare him from this life, Em. He doesn't need to be a part of it. A part of us."

"It's his destiny. Just like it's ours. It's not mine or yours to change, Tony," Emily said, shaking her head.

"He deserves to know the truth about who he is! You have got to give him that much, Tony," Raven said, putting her arm through his. She said gently, "He's walking around miserable, just like we were before we found each other."

"There's no harm in his ignorance," Tony growled, taking a step back, and took his arm back from her. "It's not like he has something like you, Raven. He dreams that's all. What harm can it do? His not knowing?"

Emily stepped closer, her body trembling in anger. "And what if it turns into something like Raven's or mine? What then? What about the demon who has already set his sights on Jake? Would you leave him with no power, no knowledge to defend himself?"

"We don't even know if we can defend ourselves," Tony pointed out.

"There's safety in numbers," Emily told him. "I intend to help Jake in any way that I can. That's my duty. My destiny. If you want no part of it. No part of us....well, you know you're free to leave at any time. We're not holding you back. We all choose our own paths," Emily told him, her voice trembling.

"And mine led me here. To you. I'm not going anywhere. Not because of him at any rate," Tony grumbled.

Raven squeezed his arm. "Jake seems like a nice guy. Just give him a chance, Ton," she implored, looking up at him batting her eyelashes, and gave a little pout.

Tony held back a smile at Raven's flirting. She knew it softened him up. "He can stay. I never said he couldn't. That was the group's choice based on Emily's visions. But that doesn't mean I have to like it," he said, turning to walk away.

"And I don't," he snapped over his shoulder, before stomping his way through the wooded area between the campus and the parking lot.

Raven put an arm around Emily's shoulders again. "Tony will be okay, Em. He just needs to blow off some steam. This is all hard on him too."

"Am I making the right decision, Raven? Knowingly putting Jake into danger?" Emily asked quietly.

"He'd be more in danger without us. Jake wouldn't stand a chance without knowing what we are and what else is out there," Raven said reassuringly.

She looked around their surroundings nervously. "And what is watching him," she said with a hard swallow.