Hello folks! I'm back again! And I'm running out of stuff to say so yeah... Hope you like this chapter!

Kathy made her way to the dining hall, clutching her bag filled with books and other stuff. That week had been difficult for her, and the dark circles under her eyes were evident, in spite of the poorly applied concealer.

She collapsed onto a seat, between Bones and Jim as she presses her head against her hands, sighing loudly.

"Kathy... you must tell us what's going on. Bottling up your emotions isn't healthy", Bones whispered, placing his arm around the tired girl.

"Kathy, please! do you even know how worried we are?" Stacy hissed angrily. Nyota gave her friend a warning look, telling her to shut up.

"Fine then! You don't trust us do you? We're not talking to you till you tell us what the hell is going on!" Chloe hissed. "Come on Stace."

Stacy got up and followed Chloe, exiting the hall.

"Sometimes, I seriously question your taste in friends", Jim muttered.

"Don't let them hear you say that", Kathy croaked out, making Nyota fake gasp.

"Oh my, it speaks!"

Kathy scrunched up her face and smiled softly at Nyota, who sighed. "Come on, let's get you something to eat."

"Nah, I'm not hungry..." Kathy mumbled. Jim and Bones exchanged a look before turning to Kathy. Bones lifted her off the table and hugged her, effectively trapping her in his arms. Jim began to feed her some toast and egg, looking at her sternly. Kathy huffed.

"Fine! I'll eat. But only a little. And you have to feed me."

Jim rolled his eyes but complied. And that was how Spock saw the cadets. Kathy was leaning against Bones, while talking to Nyota, with Jim feeding her. Spock's hatred for Cadet Kirk and Cadet McCoy increased as he turned away, clasping his hands behind his back, leading T'Preth to one of the tables for breakfast, keeping his ears alert so as to hear the conversation.

"Jim, please, I don't want to eat anything else. I'm not hungry anyways!" Kathy protested after some time. Jim and Bones let out a defeated sigh, before giving up. The bell rang, signalling that it was time for the first class. Since it was a Saturday, the cadets would only have three hours of classes.

"Well... we have to go... we have robotics and then flight control..." Bones said as he got up. "See you in Survival Strategies!" Jim yelled as the two men walked out.

Kathy nodded at them, while Nyota waved. "See you after Inter species ethics", Nyota mumbled, gathering her bag and getting up. Kathy smiled at her, before getting up herself, waving at Nyota as they parted to go to their respective classes.

Kathy took a deep breath and tried to smile as she entered the X-ling class, swallowing the bile that had risen. She sat in her usual seat; between Chloe and Stacy (who hadn't arrived as of yet). Kathy sighed, running her hands through her hair boyishly as she grumbled to herself.

"Th Fates just love messing with me, don't they."

"Cadet" A voice called out, making Kathy jump as she tilted her head to look at her professor, who stood behind her.

"Ah, Sir! Good mornin'!" Kathy whispered, letting her accent slip through as she shot out of her seat. Spock stiffened slightly.

"Cadet, may I know what are the fates?" Kathy hid a smile as she saw the Commander's confused expression.

"The Fates, known as the Moirai in Greek mythology and as Parcae- the sparing ones in Roman mythology, are the white- robed incarnations of destiny. Their names are Clotho- the spinner; whose roman equivalent is Nona, Lachesis- the alloter or the drawer of lots; whose roman equivalent is Decima meaning 'the tenth', and Atropos; also known as Aisa- the inevitable or the inexorable; whose roman equivalent is Morta meaning 'the dead one."

Kathy cut her rambling, pausing to take a deep breath, only too be cut off by Spock, who was staring at her by now, just like every other person in the room. Even Chloe and Stacy were looking at her, slack- jawed. Both her friends had dubbed her to be dumb, and what Jim had said about her choice of friends earlier began to plant a seed of doubt in her mind. Kathy shook her head mentally as she blushed and looked at her boots.

Was I seriously that loud...?

Nah, I'm pretty sure the cadets on the other side of the campus didn't hear you.

... Shut up.

"Fascinating", Spock said, making everyone look at him. Upon realizing this, the Vulcan cleared his throat, and walked to the front of his class, determined to forget the Cadet's excited expression, and the way her eyes sparkled with emotion when she spoke passionately.

"Did she rehearse that from wiki or something?" Chloe asked incredulously.

"Never knew that there was an even ounce of intelligence in her skull..." Stacy said, disbelief evident in her voice.

Kathy felt a pang of sadness in her chest as she tried to ignore her gossiping friends, attempting to keep the tears at bay.

As class began, half the students were attempting to stay awake as Spock's monotonous voice echoed across the silent class room. Kathy remained focus, her face scrunching up every time she didn't understand something.

Spock noticed how Kathy would bite her lip if she was focusing on something, and how she would try to stifle a yawn by scrunching up her nose. He saw the way she bit her lip to hide her smile every time Spock made a sarcastic comment or a clever joke. He saw how she noticed his witty comments, unlike the others. She truly was something else...

Kathy shouldered her bag as she got up, prepared to leave for the next class.

"Cadet Whitlock", Spock called out, making her freeze.

"...Yes, Sir?"

"May I make a personal query?"

Kathy hesitated, looking everywhere in order to avoid Spock's intense eyes.

"Yes, sir."

Spock to seemed to be hesitating as he framed his question cautiously.

"Are you... alright?"

Kathy's eyes widened as she panicked on the inside. She cleared her throat and shuffled slightly, before replying.

"I'm fine."

Spock raised a perfect brow. "Fine has multiple definitions. Therefore, fine is unacceptable."

Kathy coughed awkwardly, as she began to formulate a quick reply. "We humans use fine in various contexts, sir. I meant that everything is alright."

Spock gave her a curt nod, suspicion evident in his chocolate brown orbs.

"If you have any difficulties, apart from academics, you are free to contact me. I am your mentor and you are my mate's sister after all."

Kathy's gut squeezed painfully as she nodded politely, not trusting her voice to be stable. With that gesture, she all but ran out of the classroom, her throat tightening as she attempted to calm herself. Spock stared after her, thoroughly confused.

"I must speak to mother..." He said to himself, before frowning slightly. It would seem that he too, was indulging in illogical behavior. Spock sighed mentally, mock thanking 'The Fates' for giving him a free class. His lips quirked into his version of a smile as he walked out of the classroom, unaware of the glares T'Preth was shooting at him from the background.

Kathy was shaking a bit as she made her way towards her next class.

Notice how he said 'you are my mate's sister' and not 'my mate is your sister'? You are important to him, possibly more than his 'mate'!

No, it's not possible. Why would I be important to him?

Why not?

Look at T'Preth! She's awesome, sarcastic, clever, and a proper Vulcan! She's tall, and pretty, and thin, and she's totally his type. And I'm just... me.

Surprisingly, for the second time, the voice in her head shut up. Kathy took a seat next to Nyota, and pulled out her notes.

"Hey, how was X-ling?" Nyota asked, not taking her eyes of her notes.

"I'm fine", Kathy mumbled as she absent- mindedly stared off into space. Nyota paused and looked at her friend, immediately sensing her distress.

"We're going to the library after survival strategies class. We need to talk."

Kathy nodded, still appearing dazed as their Astrosciences professor entered the class. Nyota sighed. She knew Kathy was in her 'researcher mode'; a state where she would be completely lost, ramble in a different language, and completely immerse herself into her topic of research, in order to block out the pain.

Survival strategies class went well. Jim participated enthusiastically, while Bones kept an eye on Kathy, who dreamily gave her opinion on various situations, startling the teacher, and the whole class; especially her so called friends Stacy and Chloe.

"Kathy, are you alright?" Bones asked, looking at the girl he considered to be his little sister sadly.

"I'm fine!" Kathy exclaimed as she sauntered ahead, talking to herself.

"Guys, the last time she was like this, she kept repeating some numbers over and over again", Nyota whispered.

"Yeah, I remember. It was as though her sub- conscience was trying to connect to us!" Jim said, flinching at the memory.

"The numbers turned out to be a code of some sort, like some message that something was wrong", Bones added. Nyota's eyes widened as she whipped out a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote 'I'm fine' in various styles, before settling on cursive.

"Oh Kathy..." She whispered as Jim and Bones' eyes widened. The three friends looked at Kathy, who was looking at the sky, still mumbling to herself.

Upon turning the paper upside- down, the words turned out to be 'help me'.

So, how was the chapter! Vote if you like it, and don't forget to comment! Also, I am in desperate need of some constructive criticism, so COMMENT!!!!

PS- Am I dragging the story too much? Because I feel like I am, so I was planning on doing a time skip after a couple of chapters. And if I do a time skip, it would mean that I have to finish the story (if I go by what I have in mind). But fear not, for I am planing on writing a sequel! If you guys want me to, that is... Anyhow:-

All the love,

Kit_Kat

xxx