๐Ÿ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ. ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘ 

Word count: 5241

"๐๐Ž๐–, ๐๐”๐Œ๐๐„๐‘ ๐„๐ˆ๐†๐‡๐“, since you have finally mastered your energy blasts and attacks, we will be starting on something brand new," Reginald began as he stood firmly at the corner of the room in the training room.

A couple of months had passed since Elizabeth had first arrived, and they had been quite lively. She soon got used to the routine that she had to partake in and enjoyed most of it. It was muchย better than her old life, where she had no one to share her miseries with other than her reflection in the mirror.ย 

The others had gotten used to her being around quite quickly, and they weren't shy to include her. It wasn't long until she had grown close to most of them (Luther was the exception; it was clear that he deemed himself better than all of them. She figured she wasn't really losing out on much).ย 

Because of her enhanced intelligence, she obviously picked up on things much more quickly than the others, no matter how smart they were. And seeing how competitive they were, it wasn't always a good thing.ย 

Reginald had made Elizabeth write an IQ test sometime in early October. She finished it in record timeโ€”calculator unneededโ€”and scored a whopping two hundred and one. With this, rather than study with the others, she more helped them when it came to studying, and through this, they became close.

It was quite strange. Over the past couple of months, Elizabeth noticed that a few of the kids weren't exactly the kindest towards their siblings (namely Five, Diego, and Luther), yet they always remained nice to her. She pinned the reason down to being that she was the new kid, and they weren't completely irritated by her presence yet. She hoped that attitude would last.ย 

It didn't take a genius to see that most of the competition lay between Luther and Diegoโ€”fittingly, Number One and Number Two. Allison was quite competitive as well. Those three, along with Five, were most definitely not generous siblings to each other, especially to Vanya. Breaking the pattern, however, Diego, Allison, and Five were nothing but nice to Elizabeth (and Luther wasn't as harsh, either).ย 

Elizabeth was getting more used to being in this family as time passed. Every 'Mom' and 'Dad' rolled off her tongue more smoothly as she said it more and more, she didn't get as surprised as often whenever Five blinked into her room without caution, and every nasty remark from Reginald hurt less and less.

Although she was more than stressed with the schedule, there was still a lot of time for her to find joy with the other kids. Sneaking out to Griddy's and stuffing themselves with doughnuts, gossiping about the other students with Allison and Klaus while doing each other's hair, and playfully shooting Five and Diego with her energy.

Now, Elizabeth was in her nineteenth private training session, and her nerves were as high as ever. Training with Reginald could be quite terrifying; he was not afraid to hold back when he was angry. Nevertheless, she always tried her best.

"What?" she questioned him, her eyebrows raising slightly.ย 

"Portal creation," Reginald answered, a slight twinkle in his eye.

"Portalโ€”like where I go through, and I'll end up somewhere else?"

"That is the meaning of 'portal.' I am delighted that your mind is sufficient enough to discern what such a basic concept is," he replied in a mocking manner, causing her to shrink down slightly. "According to my studies, you should be able to fabricate some sort of portal with your energy, and be able to travel through the space-time continuum."

"Space-timeโ€”" Her eyes widened in realization. "So, would I be able to time-travel?"

"That is why I said 'space-time' rather than just 'space.' However, we will not be putting our focus on that just yet, Number Eight. We must first begin with the basics." He straightened up, holding his hands behind his back. "Try to make a portal from where you stand and will for the other end to be at the other side of the room. Push your hand out, and will for the portal. Do you understand?"

She nodded.

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows in concentration as she lifted her right hand, trying to force a portal out of it. No matter how many times she pushed her hand out, nothing happened. She felt like she looked pretty stupid.

"You surely are not as incompetent as you are acting right now," Reginald said viciously. "Or I could be wrong. Prove to me that you have any merit, Number Eight."

Upset with herself, she nodded quickly, closing her eyes as she pictured the empty space that was lit warmly by the yellow glow of lights.ย 

She willed for the portal to be on the other side of the room, keeping that thought in her head as she lifted her hand. This time, waves of gold began to burst out of her hand as her eyes glowed a matching colour, all combining to form a large, gold, wormhole-like wave. A replica of the portal appeared at the end of the room, waiting for her.

Her eyes wide, Elizabeth stepped through the portal in front of her, and barely a second later, she was on the other side of the room.

"Satisfactory." Reginald nodded. "Again. Go back to the first side you had been on."

Now a little more confident, Elizabeth imagined the side of the room she was just on and pushed her hand out to create the same portal. She passed through to arrive through the second portal on the first side.

Reginald clasped his hands in front of him as he directed, "Now, attempt travelling to your room. Once you have reached your room, immediately come back here."

Elizabeth imagined her room, with the desk that was covered in study notes, the bookcase that was filled with wonderful books, and the white bed that was oh so comfortable . . .

She pushed her hand out, the waves of gold shooting through once more. Stepping inside, she arrived in her room. She let out a small exhale, feeling as though she had run a mile or two. She ignored it and made another portal, entering back into the training room.

"Sufficient. Next, just outside of the Academy."

Elizabeth nodded before imagining the front steps, the statues of the lions, and the iron gates that guarded the home. She pushed her hand out in front of her, and walked through, appearing just where she had imagined.ย 

The chilly November breeze blew over her as she shuddered. She did not want to stay there.

She pushed her hands out again, but nothing happened. Closing her eyes, Elizabeth pushed and pushed, willing for her energy to do just as it had before, but to no avail.

With a long groan, Elizabeth dragged herself back over to the training room, already expecting what was to come. She could already feel the tears making their way to her eyes, knowing Reginald's words would be nothing but harsh. She knew she just needed to develop thicker skin, but that would take a little while longer.ย 

"Hmph. I was beginning to think that you were not smart enough to even find your way back," Reginald sneered as she entered the cold room. "What happened?"

"I don't know," she mumbled, her eyes lowered to the ground as she prayed that he'd take the answer and move on.

As expected, he did the complete opposite.

"Only failures use the excuse of 'I don't know.'" He straightened up, his glare harsh. "Are you a failure?"

"No," she muttered.

"Now, I am going to ask once more, and I expect better from you than a measly 'I don't know,'" he demanded. "What happened?"

"It didn't work." She shrugged lightly, though she knew that answer wasn't good enough. "I did the same thing as I did before, but it wasn't working."ย 

"Try again."

Nothing happened when she tried to push her hands out, no matter how much she pushed and how much she concentrated. With a shake of the head, she looked to Reginald, whose straight face concealed the anger he surely was feeling.

"Again."

Nothing.

"Again."

Nothing.

"Again!"

Nothing.

Elizabeth sighed as she let her arms fall to her sides. "Maybe I'm too tired."

"No, I do not think so. Your inability to do so is a result of lack of courage, lack of strength, and a lack of concentration." Reginald's voice was rising with every passing word, soon becoming a loud shout. "Now, I thought you were perhaps competent enough to avoid these obstacles, but it seems as though I was considerably wrong. One would believe that your intelligence would be useful for something, but apparently not. Your training is over for the day, Number Eight. Go back to your room, and if your portal-creation abilities are as weak as today's by tomorrow, I will be significantly more than displeased."

"Okay," she murmured, feeling those tears from before begin to prick her eyes.

She began to walk back to her room, silently allowing tears to fall freely down her cheeks as she made her way. She didn't even make it out of the complex before hearing someone call her name from behind.

"Elizabeth?"

She turned around to see Five, whose eyebrows were furrowed in concern as he left one of the training rooms, quietly shutting the door behind him before walking over to her.

Elizabeth quickly wiped her tears away with her sleeve and put a bright smile on her face. "Oh, hey, Five!"

"Why are you crying?" he questioned as he took a step closer, inspecting her red cheeks and slightly swollen eyes.

"Whaโ€”crying? Me? I wasn't," she scoffed, although he saw right through her obvious lie.

"Elle," he sighed, "c'mon."

"It's nothing," she reassured him with a soft smile. "Dad was just yelling at me."

"I know this sounds kinda sad, but you'll get used to it eventually." Five reached out and gently cupped her cheek before using his thumb to brush her tear away. "Plus, whatever he saidโ€”it's not true."

She gave a watery chuckle. "You don't even know what he said."

"I don't need to know," he responded with a shrug. "Whatever stupid thing he said, I know it's wrong."ย 

"Thanks, Five." Elizabeth let out a small sniffle, her eyes glancing at the warm hand that was still on her cheek.

Suddenly, the alarms that were situated on the walls began to screech, red lights flashing on and off. That was a signal that there was some sort of emergency, in which the students would have to go save whoever was in distress.

While the others had been able to train for most of their life, Elizabeth obviously had barely more than a couple of months' worth. Because of that, she wasn't allowed to go on missions with them just yet, so she remained home during those times.

"Oh," Five breathed out as his hand fell to his side. "I've gotta go."ย 

She gave him a smile as she quickly pleaded, "Be careful."ย 

He returned the smile and gave her a reassuring nod before dashing off in the opposite direction.

Elizabeth went to her room, a small sigh escaping her lips. During the couple of months that she had been there, she had fit her room to her liking, and, boy, did she love her room now.

Still the same, her bed was pushed against the left corner of the room, and a desk sat in front of the foot of the bed. Her dresser was standing at the right of the room, pushed against the wall.

And lining the remaining free walls, were white bookshelves that were completely stuffed with books that Elizabeth would pour over in her free time. That was her absolute favourite feature of her room.

Having nothing else to do, she picked out a book and sat on her bed, and began to read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

Only in moments of solitude was she able to really spend her time reading, so she took advantage of it whenever those moments were given. Their schedule was tight, and, boy, did she barely even have time to read anymore.

She was a quarter way through the story when she felt hunger overcome her, and she put the book down, deciding to go make a sandwich; they were supposed to have dinner after training, but on days where missions interrupted meals, she would usually just make a snack for herself since she had to wait till the others came home for dinner.

Elizabeth began to walk down the hallway when the light screech of a violin filled the air.

Vanya was playing.

Ever since she had first arrived, Elizabeth noticed how distant Vanya was from the others. While Vanya joined them for most fun activities (after Elizabeth or Five invited her), like whenever they would visit Griddy's Doughnuts in the middle of the night, or whenever they'd spent their thirty minutes of free time on Saturdays all hanging out together, she barely ever spoke.

Even when Elizabeth was studying with Vanya or doing schoolwork, Vanya tended to stay on the quiet side. It had taken a few weeks for her to get more comfortable with Elizabeth, but still, it was obvious that she was a little nervous around the new girl.

Now, Vanya may not have been special in ways of extraordinary powers, but the sound of her bow gliding across the strings of her violin was special enough. Elizabeth always enjoyed listening to her play whenever the others were gone, it being the only thing to fill the delightful silence.

Elizabeth soon recognized the song to be Rieding's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op.35, one that Vanya liked to play quite often. Vanya's room rested on the floor below hers, so the notes were faint as they floated through the air.

Wanting to get a better listen, Elizabeth decided that she'd make her sandwich later. She quickly descended the staircase and reached the landing of the second floor before tiptoeing her way to Vanya's room, not wanting to disturb the musician as she continued to play.

Leaning against the wall next to Vanya's door, Elizabeth closed her eyes and folded her arms as she listened to the melody of the tune.

The song came to an end about six minutes later, and while Elizabeth expected Vanya to play another song afterwards, only silence met her.

"Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth jumped at the sudden disturbance, turning to her left to see Vanya with a questioning look on her face, her violin and bow clutched carefully in her hands.

"What are you doing?" she continued, her eyebrows furrowed as she tilted her head and peered curiously at the other girl.

"Oh, I was just . . ." Elizabeth tried to come up with an excuse, but abnormally, her brain failed to come up with anything, so she just admitted, "listening."

"Oh," Vanya breathed out, her cheeks quickly tinging with pink.

"You're really good," Elizabeth murmured as she smiled warmly, shifting a few steps closer to the girl. "I could never play the violin."

"Well, I'm sure you probably already know how to play because of how smart you are," Vanya giggled lightly.

"Oh, I wish," Elizabeth laughed, shaking her head.

"Want to come in? Dad's not home, so I don't know how he could get mad," Vanya asked shyly, making a small gesture towards the inside of her room.

"Yeah!" Elizabeth grinned and followed Vanya inside. She had only ever come in to study with Vanya, so she was more than happy to spend time in there just for pleasure.

Vanya neatly put away her violin into its case, the latches giving a satisfying click! as she shut it. She then turned and sat at the bench that was in front of her desk as Elizabeth sat down on the edge of her bed.

Vanya's room was considerably smaller than the other rooms. Despite the whole house having more than forty rooms, and, clearly, extra rooms since one was at the ready for Elizabeth, Reginald had assigned the smallest, almost closet-like room to Vanya, which Elizabeth thought was more than unfair. The girl definitely had more free time than the others, seeing that she didn't have to train with them nor go on missions, so wouldn't it make more sense if she had a bigger room?

Apparently not, according to Reginald.

"So, how have your first two months here been?" Vanya asked politely, her hands resting on her lap.

"It's been pretty good," Elizabeth answered with a smile. "I like training, and everyone here is niceโ€”well, mostly. And I really like helping you guys with school and stuff."

"I'm glad you like it here. Do you like it better than your old home? Or do you like your old life better?" she questioned curiously, sweeping aside a strand of brown hair behind her shoulder.

"I definitely like it here much better." Elizabeth nodded quickly, a small exhale escaping her lips as the thought of her previous life crossed her mind. "At home, my parentsโ€”my real parents knew about my powers, but I didn't. They made me stay at home all the time, and I wasn't really allowed to talk to anyone else or go outside. It was horrible."

"I'm sorry." A frown appeared on Vanya's face. "So you didn't have any friends?"

"Not until the very end," Elizabeth sighed as she shook her head. "But then that's when I found out about my powers, and my parents made me come here."

Vanya smiled before shyly saying, "I think your powers are awesome. I like them better than anyone else's."

"Thanks." Elizabeth grinned. "Wanna see something cool?"

Vanya nodded eagerly.

Elizabeth held her hand out and felt energy tingle through her fingers as she created a golden ball of pure energy. It was about the size of an orange, and it floated above her palm.

"Whoa, your eyes," Vanya breathed out as she stared at Elizabeth's glowing eyes, her own eyes wide with wonder.

"Yeah, they turn gold whenever I'm using my powers."ย 

Vanya's attention moved towards the ball, her head curiously tilting as she inspected it.

Elizabeth held her hand out towards her, the ball twirling above her hand as it tempted the other girl. "Wanna hold it?"

"Does it hurt?" Vanya asked nervously, eyeing the ball suspiciously as it waited for her.

"If I want it to." Elizabeth shrugged before she reassured her, "But I don't want it to right now, so no."

Tentatively, Vanya took the glowing ball, immediately giggling as she gently tossed it from hand to hand, doing so slowly as to not drop it. "It's tingly."

"Yeah, you get used to it after a bit," Elizabeth chuckled as she watched her play with the ball in happiness, a smile growing on her own face.

"This is so cool." Vanya stared at the ball in amazement before looking back up at Elizabeth, her eyes lit up and her expression bright.

"I know, right?" She grinned. "Anyway, I'm going to go make a sandwich. You want one?"

"Sure!" Vanya nodded, her smile growing bigger.

"Peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich, right?" Elizabeth questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeaโ€”how did you know?" Vanya's eyes widened in surprise.

Elizabeth shrugged lightly. "Your sandwich was always one of the more normal ones. Five, Klaus, and Ben eat weird sandwiches. But, yeah, I noticed that it was the only kind you ate."

Vanya's eyes only grew more shocked at this as she softly asked, "You did?"

She nodded. "Mhm."

"Oh." Vanya shifted in her seat, her eyes now on her fingers that were nervously fumbling with each other as she bashfully said, "I didn't think anyone else knew that. Except for Mom, I guess."

"Well, I like knowing my friends' favourite things," Elizabeth said as she gave another shrug, a half-smile on her face.

"Friends?" Vanya repeated softly as her gaze shifted back up towards Elizabeth, her voice so tentative it seemed as though she was unsure of the word itself.

"Yeah!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she grinned, leaning forward and nudging her playfully. "We're friends, right?"

"Yeah." A smile spread onto Vanya's face as she gave a small nod. "We are."

Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening interrupted them, causing both of them to turn toward the door in fright.

The rest of the family was back.

"Oh, shoot, that was a shorter mission than usual," Elizabeth sighed as she jumped to her feet, taking the energy ball back and absorbing it before brushing off her dress. "Raincheck on the sandwiches, I guess. See you later!"

Before Reginald could catch her loitering around in Vanya's room, Elizabeth created a portal and jumped back into her own room, collapsing onto the bed.

"Take that, stupid man," she mumbled as she turned onto her side. "My portals are more than satisfactory."

It wasn't too long before an excited Five burst through the door, taking off the black-and-white domino mask that covered his eyes and tossing it onto the desk.

He closed the door behind him, peeking through the cracks to make sure Reginald couldn't see where he was before giving a satisfied nod.

"Hey, Five," she greeted as she sat up. "How was the mission? What was it?"

"Well," he began as he sat down next to her on the bed, his grin wider than ever, "there was a store being robbed, and all the customers and workers inside were being held hostage."

"And then?" Elizabeth pressed. She loved hearing the stories of their missions, and could hardly wait to go on them herself.

"It was a group of five menโ€”Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson types, y'know? Big, buff, bald . . . but they were no match for me." Five straightened up boastfully, a cocky smile now on his face as he placed a hand on his chest. "I didn't even need anyone else, I just went in and kicked ass."

"Uh-huh." Elizabeth raised her eyebrows in amusement as she giggled, "And what actually happened?"

He seemed offended by this as he scoffed, "What? You don't think I can beat up a bunch of men by myself?"

She stared at him for a second before shaking her head. "No."

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"No problem," Elizabeth giggled before pushing his shoulder. "So?"

"Diego pinned one to the wall, I teleported onto one of their shoulders and hit them over the head with a cash register, Allison rumoured one to stab his friend and then himself, and then Luther threw one through of the ceiling," Five recounted, counting off each one with his left hand.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and she quickly asked, "Ben didn't have to use his octopus stuff?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

"Good." She smiled; she knew how much Ben hated using his powers, and she had been subject to hearing him complain about it to her and Klaus instead of doing homework many times. "And no one got hurt, right?"

Five stared at her for a moment, his eyes squinting as he slowly said, "I mean . . . those robbers did."

"Well, I'm not talking about them," she pointed out, her eyebrows furrowed.

He scoffed. "Then you should've said, 'My favourite person isn't hurt, right?' and then I would say, 'Yeah, I'm fine.'"

She folded her arms. "How do you know if you're my favourite?"

"Are you saying that I'm not?"

"Am I your favourite person?"

"Psh." He gave a scoff that wasn't all that believable as he shook his head. "No."

Elizabeth shrugged. "Then you're not my favourite."

He was silent for a moment before giving in, mumbling as he looked towards the ground and gave a small shrug, "Okay, fine, you're my favourite."

"That's what I thought." She grinned as his cheeks rosied slightly.

His head snapped up to look at her. "Whaโ€”so am I your favourite or not?"

"Oh." She nodded. "Sure."

"Sure?!" Five repeated in horror.

"I mean, yes, of course," Elizabeth quickly corrected herself, giggling.

The corners of his lips tugged upwards as he gave a small nod of satisfaction. "Better."

Elizabeth glanced over at the clock and then got up from the bed, grabbing her chemistry textbook from her desk. "Anyway, I promised my favourite perโ€”I mean Diego, that I'd study for chemistry with him."

Five's eyebrows furrowed as he realized what she had said. "Hey, wait a secoโ€”"

"Bye!" She grinned before rushing out of the door.

She walked down to the second floor and knocked on Diego's door. It opened a few seconds later, revealing a grumpy Diego who gave her a muttered hello.

"You good?" Elizabeth questioned as she entered the room, watching with concerned eyes as he closed the door rather firmly.

"I-I'm fine," he mumbled as he sat back down on his bed, picking up his textbook and ruffling it open.

"Are you sure?" she asked worriedly as she sat down next to him, moving backwards so that she was leaning against the wall.

"Yeah," he sighed as he did the same so that he was next to her, "Luther's just a bitch sometimes." He paused, then shook his head wildly as he corrected himself, "No, all the time."

"What happened?" she asked quietly, her eyes apprehensively peering at the boy. This wasn't the first time she was hearing of a fight between the two boys, and she's witnessed many more.

"We got into an argument during the mis-missiโ€”mission and he said that I'm st-stu-stu-dammit. Stupid because of my stutter," Diego muttered, his fingers now gripping the edges of the textbook rather tightly.

"Oh, Diego," she breathed out as she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I hope you know he's wrong. You are not stupid. Especially not because of your stutter. If anything, he's stupid. Because . . . he's Luther."

A small smile crept onto his face as he looked towards her and murmured, "Thanks, Elizabeth."

"Of course." Elizabeth patted him on the shoulder as she gave him a bright grin. "Now, ready to use that smart brain and study for chemistry?"

"No," Diego groaned, closing his eyes as he turned his head upwards. He sighed in defeat and opened his eyes as he reluctantly nodded. "Okay, yes. Quiz me."

"Okay," Elizabeth chuckled before looking down at the review sheet that she had pulled out from her textbook and scanning over it. "What is a compound?"

He thought for a moment before answering, "A pure sub-substance composed of two or more elements that form a new substance with unique chemical and physical properties."

"What is a covalent bond?"

"B-bond created when two elements share electrons," he replied without hesitation.

"What is a chemical property?"

Diego closed his eyes, his face screwed up in concentration as he tried to think of an answer. "A property or cha-characteristic of a substance that is observed during a reaction in which the chemical composition or identity of the substance is changed. Com-combustโ€”com-combuโ€”"

"Imagine the word in your head," Elizabeth said gently.

He nodded and closed his eyes as he tried to do so. "Com-combustibility . . . is an important chemical property to consider when choosing building materials."

"Perfect!" She clapped her hands together excitedly as she beamed. "Good job, Diego!"

"Thanks." He smiled, his cheeks slightly pinkening. "Can I quiz you now?"

"Mhm." She nodded, closing her textbook and setting it off to the side so that she couldn't cheat.

He grinned before opening his textbook and flipping through the pages. "What is a chemical change?"

Elizabeth didn't even have to think twice before she recited, "It is usually an irreversible chemical reaction involving the rearrangement of the atoms of one or more substances and a change in their chemical properties or composition, resulting in the formation of at least one new substance. The formation of rust on iron, for example, is a chemical change."

"Whaโ€”" Diego looked up at her in surprise, his eyes wide. "How did youโ€”have you been studying for the past month, or something?"

"No, I have a perfect memory, remember? It doesn't take long for me to memorize things." Elizabeth reminded him as she shrugged lightly. "Also enhanced intelligence, so I can learn things super fast."

"Right." He grinned and nodded. "I keep forgetting about your ten billion and seven IQ. Re-remind me to study with you for every test."

"You got it." Elizabeth winked before picking up her textbook, not noticing how much deeper Diego's blush had gotten.

They spent up until the curfew studying, quizzing each other back and forth and exchanging a couple of jokes every now and then. Once the clock showed that it was half-past ten, Elizabeth bid goodnight to Diego and left his room.

She made her way back up to the third floor and quickly showered before changing into her pyjamas. Like with their Academy uniforms, all of the kids had to wear the same light blue, cotton pyjamas that had a small umbrella stitched onto the left.

Elizabeth went back to her room after she was done, not bothering to turn her lights on and putting her trust in the dim moonlight that streamed into her room instead as she walked in.ย 

She headed towards her dresser, and was beginning to neatly put away her uniform when a voice spoke from behind her,

"Is he really that stupid?"

"Jesus!" She jumped in her spot and dropped the remainder of her uniform, holding her hand over her heart when she realized that Five was laying on her bed, an amused smile on his face.

"You should be used to this by now," Five chuckled as she sent him a glare and picked her uniform back up. "I've been doing this every night for the last couple of weeks."

"It'd be nice to have a warning." Elizabeth rolled her eyes before turning and continuing to put her uniform away.

"Yeah, like what? You want me to put a sign on your door that says 'Caution: Five is inside'?" He raised his eyebrows with a small scoff. "Yeah, that won't tip anyone off."

She put her hands on her hips after closing the doors to her dresser. "Maybe you could, I don't know, turn the lights on?"

"Why didn't you?" he countered.

"Because I was going to go to sleep!" she exclaimed as she made her way to the bed, sitting next to Five, who was laying on the left. "There's no point in turning the lights on if I was going to turn them off a second later!"

"Ah, next time." He waved his hand in dismissal as he watched her settle down. "Anyway, back to my original question: Is he that stupid?"

"Who?" she questioned.

"Diego."

"He's not stupid." Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows with a small frown, hoping that his words had no relation to the Luther situation. "Why?"

His face twisted into a scowl as he muttered, "He took up all three hours of study with you."

She laughed. "You're acting if you don't spend all night in here studying with me all the time."

"That's not true" โ€”he quickly sat up, his eyes narrowedโ€” "we're not even studying half the time."

"Which is why we have to do it all night instead of half the night," she pointed out.

"Shut up." He rolled his eyes in amusement as he leaned back against the wall. "Anyway, how was it? Did you end up doing a lot of work? Is Diego going to do better than me on the test? He better not."

"Oh, God, even thinking about chemistry gives me a headache," she sighed as she pressed her fingers against her temple. "Or even just Diego doing chemistry. With the number of terms he mixed up, I'm afraid he'll blow something up by accident. I'm never going to leave him in a lab by himself."

"I guess that's why I'm your favourite, right?" A grin came onto Five's face as he raised his eyebrows. "I don't give you any headaches."

She scoffed. "Five, you make my head want to explode."

He scrunched his nose and waved a dismissive hand through the air as he grumbled, "Whatever."

"You should go to bed," she suggested while she nodded towards the closed door, sighing as she ran a hand through her damp hair. "Dad wants us to start training at six tomorrow morning, remember?"

"Oh, shit," he groaned as he got up from the bed. "Yeah. Goodnight, Elle."

She smiled. "Goodnight, Five."

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