The slam of a door awakens me from my slumber. Wiping the drool from my face, I groggily look around my dark dorm room. Everything looks normal except for Hopper's empty bed. Damn it. I fell asleep before Hopper, again. I lost him last night, but this time I’m prepared. With a yawn, I get out of bed still wearing my uniform. Last time I had to change from my pajamas, but not tonight.

  Stumbling to the door, I fumble with the handle as I blink away the sleep. Why does he have to leave in the middle of the night? Why can’t he leave during the day? As I exit the room, I grab my coat.

  The hallway is lit by the dim magical gems that line it. Which way did he go, left or right? Let's pick at random. Left. Heading down the left hallway, I don’t see even a hair of him. Did I already lose him? Sneaking down the stairs at the end of the hallway, I find myself stopping to look at each floor until I reach the ground floor. This is about where I lost him last night. So, instead of heading into the building, I’ll head out.

  Stepping out into the cold winter night, I immediately regret my decisions. It’s only been three days and I’m already going soft. I’m okay with that. I prefer the soft, warm bed rather than the cold, hard streets, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how to deal with it. Bearing the cold, I step out into the snow-covered darkness.

  In the snow, I see some footsteps. I’m no tracker, but I think these are fresh. Well, considering I don’t have any other leads. Guess it’s time to hop to it. Following the footsteps into the dark, I consider turning back, but what Hopper said keeps bouncing around in my head. ‘Bumped into some friends, my ass. I recognize a beating when I see one. After all, smelly Doug and I would always get the shit beat out of us. It was always his fault.

  After a couple of minutes of following the tracks, I see them end near Dianthus Hall. Based on the green color, this must be the building for the second years. What is he doing here? As if answering my question, I see Hopper at the base of the building. He does a quick stretch before jumping between windows. When he gets to the third floor, he stops and knocks. The room lights up, and the curtains are pulled back to reveal a woman. She has raven black hair and wolf ears. She lets Hopper into the room and then draws the curtains.

  I’m going to kill him. Here I am freezing my ass off, worried that he’s getting into trouble, and instead find him meeting up with his girlfriend. Why couldn’t you just say that, Hopper!? I’m going back. As I turn around, I get a sudden bad feeling. I’ll stick around until he leaves.

  Leaning against a tree, I clean my horns, waiting for Hopper to come out. How long is he going to take? I wanted to go back to sleep. Watching the window, I see the curtains draw and Hopper climbing out of them. Peeking from behind the tree, I see him hop down and start to walk back to our dorm. Everything seems fine, but this bad feeling won’t go away. As I follow him back to the dorm, he abruptly stops as a voice calls out.

  “I thought I told you to stay away from her, Bunny,” a man says.

  As I get a closer look, I see a behemoth of a man that has raven black hair and wolf ears. He wears a green uniform, meaning he’s a second year. Which, by my understanding, means he’s at least [Level 15]. What did you get yourself into, Hopper?

  “Lupin, you know I’m not going to do that,” Hopper says.

  “You would think with those big ears of yours you would listen better, but it seems that our last two meetings didn’t get through to you,” Lupin says as he towers over Hopper.

  “Nothing you say is going to change my mind, and you don’t get to make decisions for her,” Hopper says as he adjusts his glasses.

  Well, it seems like I underestimated your balls, Hopper. Doesn’t mean I don’t think you're stupid, but at least you’re ballsy. Which I can respect. Which is bad for my health.

  Lupin brings out his claws. “It seems like I’ll have to do this the hard way. I would say that I’m not going to take pleasure from this, but I would be lying. I’ve hated you since the first time I met you. You’re a weakling that should’ve been culled like in the old days,” Lupin says as he goes to attack Hopper.

  Before Lupin can strike, I step out from behind the tree. “Well, from where I’m standing, the only weak person here is you,” I say in a mocking tone.

  Lupin stops right before hitting Hopper and looks up at me with yellow eyes. “What did you say?”

  Walking towards them, I answer, “I said the only weak person here is you, Lupin.”

  Hopper turns to me with open-mouth confusion. I don’t even have to read his mind to know what he’s thinking.

  Lupin's eyes flick to my horns and purple skin. “The Chosen One,” he growls.

  “In the flesh,” I [Lie].

  “This has nothing to do with you. I would recommend you get lost,” he says, hiding his anger.

  “Wrong again,” I say, watching his anger flare, “This has everything to do with me.” I wrap my arm around Hopper's shoulder. “You see, this man is my roommate. If he comes back hurt it annoys me. The way he limps and the way he groans from the pain. It annoys me to no end. So, I’ve come to the root of the problem. You.”

  “Me?” Lupin says as he lets out a laugh, “And how do you think you’re going to solve this problem?”

  “Easily,” I say, trying to get him angry, “First, I’ll ask you nicely to leave him alone. If that doesn’t work, I’ll have to… how did you put it? ‘I’ll have to do this the hard way.’”

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  “You may be The Chosen One, but you’re just a fledgling. A mere whimper that can be snuffed easily,” Lupin says as he places his claw near my face.

  “Then do it,” I say.

  The red glow of my eyes bounces off the yellow of his. This is a game of who flinches first, and if you ask smelly Doug, I’m the reigning champ. Lupin's eyes dart over to Hopper and then back to me. He then scoffs before walking away. That’s going to be a problem later.

  “Why did you do that?” Hopper asks.

  “Those ears of yours are useless. You’re annoying when you’re in pain. It makes it difficult for me to sleep in the middle of the day,” I say as I start to walk back to the dorm.

  “That can’t be the reason why you did that? It would be-”

  “What? Stupid, irrational, reckless, downright insane?” I say, interrupting him. “Listen, Hopper, if you're going to be my roommate, there’s something you have to understand about me. I’m reckless, bullheaded, overly confident, and vindictive. I do what I want without worrying about why I can't. So, if I want to move a mountain, I’ll figure out how to.”

  He stares at me for a moment before sighing. “He could’ve killed us,” he says.

  “But he didn’t.”

  “This time!” Hopper exclaims.

  “And that’s all that matters,” I say as I yawn.

  Hopper looks at me in a state of dumbfoundedness. Then I hear a small chuckle escape him as if he’s lost his mind.

  “This is not how I expected tonight to go,” Hopper says as we enter Azalea Hall.

  “I would imagine. So, you have a girlfriend?” I ask as we climb the stairs.

  Hopper's face goes beet red as he scratches his ear. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lies poorly.

  “Hopper, I saw you climb into her window. So, who is she and who is Lupin?” I ask as we enter our dorm room.

  Obviously embarrassed, he struggles to answer, “I… didn’t realize, uh, that you saw that. No, we’re not like that, she’s just a… friend,” he says with longing, “An old friend from back home that I hadn’t had the chance to see since she started attending Sylvian. Lupin is her twin brother, and he obviously doesn’t like me seeing her.”

  Obviously is putting it lightly. Also, the way he hesitated when he said friend. He’s not lying to me, but I can tell he wants to be more than just friends. Oh, Hopper, you dog. This is… fun.

  “So, you were willing to get beaten up for this ‘friend’ of yours?” I ask, trying to evoke a reaction.

  “Well… I… How… You did the same thing,” he says, obviously flustered.

  “Fair. Then again, I am The Chosen One.”

  “That has nothing to do with this.”

  “I would beg to differ,” I say as I change into my pajamas.

  As we get ready for bed, a silence falls over the two of us. We lie down and get into our beds. I hope to get at least a couple of hours of sleep before class starts.

  “What were you going to do if he didn’t back down?” Hopper asks in the silence.

  “Probably take a beating,” I say as I begin to drift off into the dreamworld.

  “Thanks, CJ,” Hopper says.

  “Don’t mention it.”

  The classroom is abuzz with noise when Hopper and I rush in. Going to sleep after the events of last night was probably not a good idea, considering we woke up late. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like Professor Stargazer is here yet, so we should be in the clear.

  “Well, look who’s late. What happened? Did you stop along the way to steal candy from a baby?” Penelope jokes as I pass her desk.

  “Morning, Penelope. I see you’re early. Guess it pays off to skip combing your hair,” I say with a smile.

  Penelope smirks back before subtly checking her hair.

  “Morning, Princess. Why is everyone so excited?” Hopper says.

  “That’s because the date for the yearly Class War has been posted,” Penelope says.

  “Class War?” I say as I quickly eat some cookies I had stuffed in my pocket.

  “Yeah, every year the University has a friendly bout between years. Although from what I’ve heard, the battles can get a bit out of hand,” Penelope explains.

  “Why would they do that?”

  “It lets students test their skills against their peers, and it contributes to your ranking, and if your year wins, you get a special privilege. At least that’s what the flier says,” Hopper says as he reads a flier.

  “So, what, random upperclassmen are going to come fight us for points?” I ask, somewhat confused about the logic behind it.

  “Not all of them. It’s usually first years vs. second years, third vs fourth, and fifth vs sixth. So, we can only challenge and be challenged by the second years,” Penelope explains.

  With an awkward smile, I give Hopper a look. He understands and facepalms.

  “What’s up with you guys?” Penelope asks.

  “We may have made a second year angry at us,” Hopper says with an awkward smile.

  Penelope looks over to me. “What did you do?” she asks, annoyed.

  “First off, that's rude. I didn’t do anything. Second off, it was Hopper who pissed him off,” I say, deflecting the blame.

  With a confused look, she turns to Hopper. “What did you do?!”

  “I… may have… done something to get on his bad side, but CJ was the one who threatened him,” Hopper says, deflecting the blame back at me.

  “Which second year?” Penelope asks.

  “Lupin,” Hopper and I say simultaneously.

  Penelope does a long blink before saying, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”