Annabeth walked through the halls of Dalyeina High School. She looked down at her map, searching for where the student body president's office was located.

So I'm supposed to go there, then, she thought when she found the office on the map. How exactly do I get there? And who exactly am I looking for? Someone named Kenneth, I think...

She continued walking, not lifting her eyes from the map even once. It was 6:08 in the evening, so most of the students were probably eating dinner. That meant the hallways were pretty empty, so she didn't have to worry about--

She suddenly bumped into someone, causing her to stumble backwards.

"What out where you're g--" she began, but stopped mid-sentence when she looked up and saw who it was. Jordan, an annoying, oblivious dork who had a huge crush on her.

"Surprise!" he exclaimed.

"Wha--?! Why are you here?"

"Well, I heard you were transferring here, so I begged my aunt and uncle to let me transfer here, too."

Annabeth groaned. She started off uninterested in Jordan, but after a while of being constantly bothered by all his crap, she quickly grew to dislike him. He didn't seem to take notice of that, though, unfortunately.

"Did you really have to?" Annabeth sighed. "I'm not precisely thrilled to see you here..."

"O-oh..." His smile faded and his gaze dropped to the floor. "I'm...I'm sorry. I just wanted us to still go to the same school is all. You didn't move because of me, did you?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Surprisingly, no. I decided to transfer here because Nathan attends this school."

"Wait, Nathan as in your cousin Nathaniel...? But he's such a--"

"I don't think you should finish that sentence." Annabeth heard a snicker and felt an elbow being rested on her shoulder. "Sorry for interrupting, but when I heard you bothering my little cousin, I thought I should come over here to tell you to get lost."

"B-but that's not fair...!" Jordan protested. "Why do you think you're allowed to tell me what to do? Just 'cause I'm n--"

"Would you rather I not tell you what I want you to do and make you do what I want you to instead?"

"Actually, yeah, um, no, I think I'd rather be ordered around!" He turned around and ran off as fast as he could.

"Danke," Annabeth said, looking up at her cousin with a small smile.

"Hey, anything for my little cousin." Nathaniel shrugged.

"I'm not little!"

"You are to me." He chuckled, which earned him a glare and a punch. "But whatever. You're welcome for that."

"He's such a stupid little freak. He's had a crush on me since sixth grade and he hasn't stopped following me around since." Annabeth sighed and leaned against the wall. "How am I supposed to get a boyfriend or girlfriend with him following me around everywhere?"

"Eh, I wouldn't get too upset about it if I were you. Seems like all the cute guys are stupid, complete nerds, or taken, and all the cute girls are either straight or what I'd assume would be horrible girlfriend material." He shrugged. "But, any way you put it, you've still got a better chance than me. Remind yourself of that and maybe it'll give you some confidence."

"I highly doubt that. The only reason I've got a better chance is because you're gay." She paused for a moment. "Besides, I'm sure one of the straight guys you like is actually gay, bi, or pansexual. He'll come out at some point, and you'll fall head-over-heels in love with him."

"Or here's a more realistic idea. My little cousin is hopelessly obsessed with romance and is trying to convince me that all her unrealistic crap with magically become true."

Annabeth crossed her arms and let out a huffy breath. "Whatever. Can you show me where the student body president's office is?"

"You idiot. The map's a little confusing, yeah, but it's not too hard to read if you stare at it for a minute."

"Fine!" Annabeth shoved her map in Nathaniel's face. "Teach me how to read it if I'm such an idiot!"

"Okay, fine!" He snatched the map away from his cousin. "It's simple if you're s--Oh. My. Dear. God."

"What? Is it more confusing than you remember it being, then?"

"No, it got worse. They changed it and made it so much worse. Dear God, I wanna kill whoever did this." He turned around and started heading down the hall. "Lemme just show you where you need to go."

Annabeth followed him. "So what's the student body president like?"

"The kind of guy I'd like to avoid, but we're roommates. Uptight, serious, and always focused on his work. Pretty sexy, too, though."

"Is he gay or straight or what?"

Nathaniel shrugged. "Double-ace, he says, but you should hear him in his sleep sometimes. That boy is not asexual."

"Must get annoying." Annabeth snickered.

"Not really. Actually, I kinda like it."

"Ooh! So does that mean you have a thing for him?"

"I might." Nathaniel smirked and shoved his cousin lightly. "But there's no way it'd work. 'Sides, he pretty much hates me anyway."

"Well, still, you can't know stuff like that for sure, can you?"

"I do know for sure, and there's no way you'll ever convince me otherwise." He stopped at a door and opened it. "Anyway, it's right here."

A boy with dirty-blond hair looked up from a stack of papers and smiled. "Who is i--Oh." He frowned. "It's you. Nathaniel, why are you here?"

"I'm showin' Anna around." He crossed his arms. "Is there anything wrong with me bein' around my little cousin, Kenneth?"

Kenneth sighed. "Of course not, but I hope she's nothing like you."

"Oh, come o--"

"Shut up," Annabeth growled. "I have a headache and I don't need to listen to a pointless argument. Now, Nathan, maybe you should leave now, because I feel as if there's going to be a stupid argument if you two are in the same room together."

"Fine, whatever, I'm gone." He tossed his hands up and was gone without another word.

Kenneth shook his head, sighing. "He's always starting arguments. How immature."

"That only makes you all the more immature for giving in," Annabeth muttered.

"Fair point, I suppose. However, I don't recall other students ever being sent here to lecture me."

"Maybe because no one is smart enough to find enough fault in your words or actions to lecture you." She put her hands on Kenneth's desk, leaning forward and using her hands for support. "I, however, have above-average intelligence, am extremely observant, and am not afraid to call anyone out if I feel as if I have a right to."

"Anyway, Annabeth Edelweiss, you were sent here to get your student ID, a key to your dorm room, and I'll be escorting you to your room." He stood up and began leading Annabeth to wherever her room was.

"You said it wrong."

"Excuse me? How would you know that?"

"I meant grammatically. 'You were sent here to get your student ID, a key to your dorm room, and I'll be escorting you to your room.' "

"I'm well aware of what I said. Where is the error?" Kenneth's tone made it obvious that he was beginning to get irritated.

" 'You were sent here to get your student ID and a key to your dorm room, and I'll be escorting you to your room.' That would have been much more accurate. The way you originally worded it made it seem as if I was sent to your office to receive a key and a student ID, along an 'I'll be escorting you to your room' as well, which doesn't make any sense whatsoever."

He let out a heavy sigh, but didn't say anything in response, so the two continued in silence.

When they reached the dorm room labeled "113," Kenneth unlocked it and handed the small silver key to Annabeth.

"This is your room," he said. "I'll have your student ID shortly, since I was too busy to make it earlier."

"You certainly sound like an exceedingly efficient worker. Anyway, I'll be seeing you later, I suppose." She entered her room and slammed the door shut, not caring to hear whatever Kenneth's response was.

"Yo, 'ey!" a heavily Welsh-accented voice exclaimed.

A strawberry-blond girl with greenish-blue eyes and black-framed glasses half-sat half-laid on the bottom bunk of the set of bunk beds in the room with her back against her pillows. A bowl of ramen was propped up on her knees, so she didn't bother putting her legs down when Annabeth walked in, despite the fact that she was wearing a short skirt. There was a dorky grin plastered on her face and she held up a peace sign with the hand she was holding her fork in.

"So you're my new roommate?" Annabeth asked.

"Yep! 'm glad to share a room with someone now! We're not s'posed to leave our rooms after nine-thirty on school nights, an' since the school's Interwebs only allows a certain few sites, I can't talk to my friends in the middle of the night 'cause I can't afford my own router thing."

"If you suffer from social deprivation, then I'm not too sure you should put much faith in me helping with that."

"Ha, one might think 'm socially deprived after hearin' that, but nah. I jus' can't stand goin' very long without havin' someone to talk to."

"Unfortunately for you, then, I put a lot of time into studying and reading, and I'm typically in bed by ten o'clock at the latest."

"Aw, but that's no fun at all! C'mon, at least stay up with me tonight!"

"What's the point in that? Today is Friday, so it's not a school night."

"Well, I kinda wanna have a few of my friends over all night, an' I can't really do that without your permission. We're probs gonna be pretty loud, an' if ya crash early, we'd have ta keep it down. So will you please say yes?"

Annabeth sighed. "There will be no intoxication, sex, or pornographic films. You'll also get me a chocolate cake, a dozen chocolate-coated strawberries, and a gallon of chocolate ice cream."

"Promise there'll be none o' that." She got up and went to the dorm room's small kitchen. "By the by, name's Cordelia. Also, the box of stuff you sent here is on the top bunk."

Annabeth didn't respond as she climbed up the ladder to the bunk she assumed was hers. Just as Cordelia had said, her box of belongings sat on the mattress. She used one of her fingernails to break the tape that sealed the box shut. She emptied the box of its contents, carefully organizing everything into neat piles.

Did I really need to bring all of this? Annabeth wondered. I honestly didn't realize how much I'd packed. I can be so stupid sometimes.

Still, though, she was glad she brought everything that she did. Had she paid close attention to what she was packing, she probably would have left many more things at home, and she most likely would have regretted that. Even so, she found herself questioning why she didn't stop herself from bringing so much.

There were four dresses, nine shirts, seven skirts, three pairs of shorts, a pair of pants, six pairs of shoes, fourteen pairs of stockings, eleven pairs of panties, eight bras, three nightgowns, two pillows, four blankets, two bed sheets, over thirty books, ten spiral notebooks, a twenty-four pack of mechanical pencils, her laptop and its charger, an MP3 player, ear-buds, and a cloth sack of money.

Looking at all of the package's contents made Annabeth wonder how Cordelia managed to even lift it, let alone put it up on the bed. She made a mental note to ask her later.

 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

 

" 'm back!" Cordelia called as she entered the room.

"Oh, hey," Annabeth responded, though she was unaware that the other girl had even left in the first place.

"You got a lot done durin' the hour I was out." She flashed Annabeth a dorky grin before going back to the kitchen.

It was definitely true--she had gotten quite a lot finished, especially for the time she did everything in. She had made her bed, put away her clothes, sheets, and blankets, arranged her books on the bookshelf in alphabetical order by author surname, and set up her other things nicely and neatly on the unused desk in the room. In addition to that, she also had put the laundry lying about in a hamper, threw away the garbage that was all over the floor, did the dishes, and vacuumed the carpet.

"I'd be unsatisfied with myself if I couldn't quickly complete a few chores." Annabeth shrugged.

"Yeah, well, it still looks amazing. Anyways, I got the stuff you asked for, an' I told all my friends your rules."

"Very well, they can come over." Annabeth jumped down from her bed, went into the kitchen, and leaned on the counter, using her elbows for support. "By the way, I have a question for you."

"An' what's that?"

"How did you manage to lift my package up onto the top bunk? Rather, how did you manage to pick it up at all? I had quite a lot of things that should have made it too heavy for you to be able to lift it."

"Eh, 'm jus' really strong."

"I highly doubt that. Not only is your strength astounding, but I also feel a unique aura radiating from you. Who precisely are you?"

"I'll tell ya when my friends are over, 'kay? An' in that case, I'll need ta borrow your cell phone, if you got one. I gotta text Natalee an' tell 'er the change of plans."

"All...right?" Annabeth hesitantly handed her phone to Cordelia. She didn't have anything on it that was worth hiding, though she wasn't so sure that just handing a stranger her cell phone was a great idea. "Do whatever it is you need to, I suppose. For the time being, I think I'll take a nap to try to banish this migraine I've gotten..."

2: Chapter 2

"Hey, Anna, everyone's gonna be here in just a few minutes."

Annabeth yawned and stretched as she sat up. She forgot where she was and what was going on for a split second, but remembered everything before she could ask.

"I'm hungry," Annabeth said groggily. "Get me my strawberries."

" 'Kay, 'm on it."

In less than twenty seconds, Cordelia placed the carton of of chocolate-coated strawberries on Annabeth's lap. Just in time for Cordelia's friends to arrive, she assumed, as heard four knocks on the door.

"Got it!" Cordelia exclaimed, rushing to the door and flinging it open. "Hey, guys!"

As soon as the strangers entered the room, Annabeth's stomach began churning and trying to force its way up her throat. It was unpleasant, to say the least, and couldn't have happened at a worse time. But, since there were others there, she ignored it, started eating her strawberries, and tried her best to keep from showing any discomfort.

"So you must be friends of Cordelia," Annabeth guessed. "What are your names? I may as well know who you are if I'll be putting up with you all night."

"I'm Miss Olivia Lenhart!" said the first girl,--or at least Annabeth guessed she was a girl--who had very long auburn hair and dark green eyes. "I'm a friendly young woman, but I'll cut your throat if you refer to me as a male."

"My name is Natalee Patterson." The second girl--who had long, curled blond hair and ice blue eyes--curtsied, and bowed her head respectfully as she did so. "I hope we can be great friends!"

"My name's Erica Jones," the third girl--who had medium-length, chocolate-brown hair that was pinned up in two ponytails, and light brown eyes--said in a voice that was laced with an Indian accent. "I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance."

"I'm Yekiterina Yvonni, but most people call me Katya! I can't wait to get to know you better!" the fourth girl--who had short blond hair and turquoise-green eyes--exclaimed in a Russian-accented voice.

"And I am Samantha Maves." The fifth girl--who had shoulder-length black hair and amber eyes--bowed politely. "It is my hope that we can become the best of friends!"

Cordelia looked around, confused. "So now where's Hunter? She said she'd be here when you guys arrived, an' she's definitely not one ta be late."

"I'm here." A girl with copper-brown hair, mostly in a chin-length bob with a medium-length braid in the back, and almost-black eyes crawled out from under Annabeth's blanket.

Annabeth threw what was in her hand--which was a half-eaten strawberry--at Hunter's head.

"Oh, my, that wasn't very nice." Her unreadable expression didn't change and she didn't raise her voice or sound angered as she easily dodged the strawberry.

"How did you get in my bed?!" Annabeth demanded.

"This is Hunter we're talking about, sweetheart," Olivia said. "You'll need to learn how not to ask que--"

"How do you think I did?" Hunter interrupted.

"Allow me to rephrase that," Annabeth sighed. "How did you get in my bed without me noticing?"

"But you'd never believe me if I told you."

"I believe any answer will suffice as of currently."

"All right." Hunter leaned forward so that her face was only about two inches away from Annabeth's. "Satan showed me."

Annabeth would have responded, but Hunter's breath had a sickly sweet scent that made her gag. She felt lightheaded and dizzy, and immediately clapped both hands over her mouth.

Hunter tilted her head. "Are you feeling all right?"

Of course not! she responded silently as she jumped down from her bunk and bolted to he bathroom. She dropped to her knees with a loud thud in front of the toilet. A painful stinging sensation tore its way up her throat, feeling like liquid fire, as she spilled the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl. Tears gathered in her eyes as she let out quiet whimpers of pain. There were very few forms of pain she had built up a tolerance to, and, unfortunately, this was not one of them.

"Are you okay?!" Natalee asked, panic apparent in her voice.

"Maybe you should not have told Cordelia that us coming over was fine!" Samantha put in. "It is best for you to rest if you are not feeling well!"

"Bu' does it actually have anything ta do with a stomach bug 'r somethin' like that?" Cordelia wondered out loud.

"That's actually a great question," Erica added. "It wasn't until we walked in that she looked at all uncomfortable. Maybe that's exactly when Hunter arrived."

"Oh, yeah! And it wasn't until she breathed in Anna's face that she actually threw up!" Katya noted.

"Meaning," Olivia concluded, "this is the same test she put us six through Honestly, she needs to find a...prettier way to do that."

Annabeth rested her elbow on the toilet seat and propped her head up on the palm of her hand. "Excuse me, but what on Earth are you talking about? What is this 'test'?"

Olivia sighed. "Who's explaining this time?"

The cabinet under the sink opened and Hunter tumbled out. "I'll do it. But first, I need Annabeth to come with me." She crawled back under the sink and motioned for Annabeth to follow.

"I don't think that's a very good idea," Erica said slowly.

Annabeth shrugged. "Why not? She's simply a talented magician and nothing more."

She dropped the lid of the toilet, flushed it, wiped her mouth off on the sleeve of her sweatshirt, and followed Hunter into the cabinet. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

Hunter closed the cabinet and grabbed one of Annabeth's hands with her own. It took an effort not to flinch away from her touch, as it was freezing cold, like she had been holding onto a bag of ice for thirty minutes prior. Goose bumps rose all over Annabeth's body, which was appalling, as she rarely ever affected by the cold. Just who was this girl, anyway?

"We need to go forward," Hunter whispered.

Annabeth followed hesitantly. She wanted to say something, or ask questions, but she decided that it was probably best if she didn't.

"And here we are." Hunter tossed something--which was apparently a blanket--off the two of them, revealing that they were back on Annabeth's bed.

"How did you--" Annabeth began.

"Again, dear, this is Hunter," Olivia said. "You don't ask questions, because if you do, the answers are either freakishly scre--messed up, don't make any sense, or are obvious lies."

"I'm not lying when I say Satan shows me. It's true." She pulled her braid over her shoulder and messed with the white hair tie that held it together. "It's not terribly 'messed up,' either."

Olivia opened her mouth to say something else, but Hunter began speaking again before she could. "But shall I explain things now?" She didn't wait for a response to continue. "Firstly, the 'test' proved that you're special like the rest of us. I have the power of illusion, so I can do stuff like that." She leaned forward and breathed in Annabeth's face. This time, however, her breath had the scent of watermelon-flavored candy.

"In that case, what does 'special' mean?" Annabeth questioned. She was beginning to take interest now, as it all seemed as if it would be something of a fantasy story.

"It means you have a unique power that a normal human could never have. I think yours might let you detect the abilities other special people have. Try focusing and seeing what you can figure out."

What the heck was going on was far beyond Annabeth's knowledge, but she did what Hunter instructed her to without questioning it or objecting. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She observed the vibes of the other people in the room as closely as she possibly could. There was something...odd about the auras of the others that set them apart from any other human she had ever come into any sort of contact with. It was beyond her understanding how she could tell, and there were no words she could use to even begin trying to explain what it was like, what the differences were, or even how she could identify the differences.

After a few minutes, Annabeth opened her eyes. "From what I can tell, Natalee has the ability to generate large quantities of heat, Cordelia has the ability of gravity manipulation, Katya can control water, Erica has flawless strategizing skills, Samantha can fly, and Olivia has magnetic field manipulation. Correct?"

"Entirely." Hunter pushed her braid back over her shoulder. "Now, to continue this, I'll move onto the topic of gender. Most people who are born special are female, but special people who are male aren't unheard of. All the ones known are homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, or transgender. I believe that this is because being special is a hereditary mutation, and being sexually attracted to the same gender, being unable to have sexual attractions, or being born as one gender and transitioning to the opposite gender makes sexual reproduction between a special person and a regular person, or between two special people, far less likely than it would if they were cisgendered heterosexuals. Did you follow all of that?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and nodded. "Of course. I'm not an idiot."

"I've done a fair share of talking by this point. Why don't you six share your abilities in detail? And why not your pasts as well while you're at it? You can go in the order Annabeth guessed your powers in--Natalee, Cordelia, Yekiterina, Erica, Samantha, and then Olivia."

"Since it's officially story-time, does anyone mind gettin' the beanbags?" Cordelia said.

"I'll do it!" Olivia volunteered. She reached under the bed and pulled out six beanbags, each of a different color--orange, pink, red, light green, purple, and fuchsia.

"But you only have six," Katya said.

"We could share one," Erica suggested, which earned a vigorous nod from Katya.

"And I cold share one with Natalee, if she is okay with that," Samantha added.

"Sure!" Natalee agreed.

So Cordelia sat on the orange one, Olivia sat on the pink one, Natalee and Samantha sat on the red one, Katya and Erica sat on the green one, and Hunter jumped down from the top bunk onto the fuchsia one, leaving Annabeth with the purple one.

"Now story-time can begin!" Cordelia clapped her hands together.

"We're teenagers, not children," Annabeth muttered. "It's not 'story-time.' "

"All right!" Natalee cheered, completely ignoring Annabeth's comment. "My special ability is generating heat. It's easiest for me to generate heat from my own body. Like, making my body temperature go way up. I'm also able to make other things heat up without even touching them, and that actually even includes people. But I can't do it very much, because it uses up a lot of my energy." She paused for a moment. "I think it should be Cordelia's turn. We can share our pasts after we've all told about our powers."

"Yeah, I agree." Cordelia nodded. "I can manipulate gravity, meanin' I can make things seem lighter or heavier than they actually are. That's how I was able to lift that box. But just 'cause I can do that to a heavy box doesn't mean that I can do that with everything. The more weight I'm addin' or gettin' rid of, the more energy it takes. An' somethin' else--when I add or take away some of the weight, it doesn't get any harder or easier to break." She looked over at Katya. "Your turn."

"I'm able to control water," Katya stated. "I'm not able to create it, so I have to depend on other things to take from. But on the bright side, I can take water from inanimate objects or plants. Just not people or animals, but that's just because I couldn't bring myself to do that. But the power I use up isn't based off of how much water I'm controlling, just how much water I take from and add to things." She rested the side of her head on Erica's shoulder. "Now it's your turn."

"My strategies are flawless," Erica began. "Well, sometimes they aren't, but if I do them entirely properly, they most certainly are. If I focus too much on certain details, I might overlook other important details. I also can't detect traps if they're hidden well enough. Unlike everyone else, however, using my power doesn't drain me." She poked Samantha's shoulder. "Your go."

"My power is flight," Samantha explained. "It is a very power-draining, so I am not able to fly very long distances or carry very much weight. Basically that is it, so I do not really have any more to explain." She tossed a ball of paper at Olivia's head. "It is your turn."

"I'm able to control magnetic fields." Olivia paused for a moment to inspect her nails. "Oh, dear, the nail polish is starting to chip... Anyway, my power lets me move magnetic metals at will, and I can even use small blades of metal to cut someone up. I can jam technological systems, too, if I need to. Unfortunately, using my power is a constant energy-drain, so I can't use it for long periods of time."

"And we're still not done yet?" Annabeth asked, sighing.

While the rest of the others didn't give a reaction, Natalee looked crushed. "Does that mean you don't like us?"

Samantha shot a quick glare at Annabeth, putting both arms around Natalee. "She is very sensitive. Be more careful with her."

Annabeth sighed. "I wasn't saying I dislike you, I just don't see the reason behind you telling about your history."

"We're all going to be working towards a certain one goal," Hunter said. "We need to find special gems to break this curse. But how are we all meant to work together if you don't know about the others here?

Annabeth huffed. "All right, fine."

"Great!" Natalee immediately brightened up. "So I go first, then! Where do I begin... I was born into a really rich family. There was always enough money for my parents to buy me whatever me and my siblings wanted. We would always run around and play games with our parents, our butler, and our maids. I don't think I can remember a sad day for all of us. We never let even the saddest things get to us. There were always smiles, laughter, and everything happy. I didn't need all the money to be happy, since I really only needed my family to bring me joy. I could never picture things any other way.

"It was absolutely perfect, but whatever wrathful gods I had sinned against must have wanted to see me hurt. I was playing in the huge meadow on my family's property one early-spring afternoon. It was the time when all the pretty flowers were blooming and the cute birds were flying about. Everyone else was inside eating a snack, but it was the first warm day of the year, so I wanted to stay outside. I didn't care that I hadn't eaten since breakfast, or that the sun was beginning to burn my skin. I just cared that it was a beautiful day and I didn't want to spend a second more of it indoors.

"Evening came and no one came back out. I decided that they must have called for me, but I was too wrapped up in enjoying the day, so I went back to my mansion. When I ot back, the whole place was burned down. It was just rubble and ashes. I had never been willing to do anything that would get me dirty. It took me forever to do my hair in the mornings and my dresses were what made me so pretty. I didn't hesitate to look through the rubble. I moved things around until all my nails were broken, and I kept searching and moving things around till my fingertips were bleeding. I searched until the morning, not even stopping, no matter how many scrapes I got, no matter how much blood I could feel dripping down my arms and legs, no matter how tired I got. I couldn't find them.

"Morning came, and I wasn't able to find anyone. But firefighters and cops and a search party and an ambulance showed up. One of the police officers sat and talked to me for a while until the bodies of all my siblings, my parents, and the servants were found. I..." She paused for a moment, sniffling and rubbing her eyes nonstop for a few minutes "...I came to the conclusion that it was my fault. When I got really excited about something, everything around me would warm up a lot, and so it could very well have been my fault...

"I dressed in black for the next few years. Red had always been my favorite color, since it was so perfect for everything. Until I started coming to this school, though, I wore black. But my friends have been here, and they reminded me how to push through pain and find the happiness in every situation."

Cordelia had a look of solemnness that was much different than her look earlier. "An' so now it's my turn..." She sighed. "My family wasn't the best, I wouldn't say. Dad did drugs an' Mum was usually out with other guys. The house always had crap hidden everywhere--crack, heroine, anything, really. Did drugs, an' 'e sold 'em, too. Not really sure how I turned out the way I did, comin' from a home like that, an' 'm pretty sure I would'a came out much worse if nothin' ever changed. Guess the tables turned when Dad snapped.

"Bein' specific, i' was the sixth day of January, nine years ago. I was only seven, bu' I already knew what my life was at that point. I knew how to identify several different kinds o' drugs, an' I knew I would pro'lly be starved to death in the basement 'r somethin' if I told anyone. I would'a said somethin' to someone, bu' I was terrified, y'know? Livin' with an insane druggie was scary stuff without me goin' out and sayin' or doin' somethin' that'd get me killed even quicker than I already would'a been. Wasn't gonna cut my own throat, whether i' was illegal or not. Again, it was scary stuff. Y' wouldn't really understand without bein' in that position. I's even worse than it sounds.

"Anyway, 'nough 'bout that. One night in the middle of January, I got up to get m'self a cup o' water. I had a really bad cough that woke me up, an' so my throat kinda hurt. So I'm goin' to the kitchen, an' I get myself a cup o' water. Well, as I was drinkin' it, I hear my dad yell somethin'. Maybe at the dog, or maybe at me, I don't remember. I jus' remember I was so scared, I dropped the cup. Mind you, back then I'd never even be caught dead tastin' alcohol or doin' anything at all wrong, not like t'day at all. I pushed through my pain if I was told to, an' I never missed a day o' school just 'cause I was sick--was never even tardy. So apparently, droppin' and breakin' the cup made him really angry with me, so he..." Cordelia used her fingertips to massage her temples gently for a couple moments. She dropped her gaze to her lap and let her hair fall so that her eyes were unable to be seen, though Annabeth was sure she could see tears in her eyes before her eyes were hidden. "He started beatin' me and screamin' at me, yellin' how I should'a been more careful. I've done my best to block out what exactly happened, but I know I felt sharp pain, and I know how much o' my blood I could feel on my skin. He cut me up with the broken glass, I guess as a way o' punishin' me for breakin' it.

"An' he jus' left me on the floor an' went back to bed. So I laid there for a minute." A few wet drops fell onto her skirt and her hands, resting on her lap now, clenched into tight fists. "An' I got up after a couple minutes 'cause I was already used to the pain. I was sure I'd be dead when he woke up again, 'cause I think he jus' wanted me to suffer, so there was no point in jus' layin' there. I decided ta go straight to the police. Dad's in prison now, an' I dunno where Mum went, so I was sent here soon as a kind young woman suggested it to the workers at the orphanage I was livin' at. I was able to, since I didn't have anyone else ta be sent to an' no one adopted me. An' that's how I ended up here..."

Katya let out a shaky breath. "S-s-so it's my turn now...? O-okay... My momma was very poor, and she couldn't afford to move whether she wanted to or not. I lived in a dark basement, my only friend being my sweet cat. My momma wouldn't let me go outside, or even leave the basement, because she always insisted that it was too dangerous for me to leave.

"So one day, she went out, and me and Snow stayed in the basement. It took three days to realize she wasn't ever coming back, and I was alone. But I...I...finally was..." Her voice became too choked to continue and she squeezed her eyes, tears falling freely down her cheeks. She buried her face in the crook of Erica's neck as violent sobs shook her body.

"It's all right," Erica whispered. "I'll take my turn now."

"N-n-no, b-but--"

"It's okay that you're sensitive. Just let me take my turn and everything will be okay. Don't think about what happened, just remember the kind angel that saved you from that horrid place if it helps."

Katya sniffled loudly and nodded.

Erica gently rubbed Katya's back in comforting circles. "My story begins in a small town in India. It was only a few months after my dad gad been transferred to India, which happened a couple weeks after I was born. My dad wasn't really a city type of person, so he was fine having to go an hour and a half to get to work. While my mom complained, my dad and I loved it. We were comfortable there, and I had been objecting to my mom's complaints ever since I could talk. It had everything we needed--a little grocery store, a curry shop, a clothing store, and everything else we would need. There was no reason to ask for more, so my dad and I never did.

"Since before I can even remember, my dad would take me to the curry shop every Friday for lunch. It was a lot of fun, just sitting with him and talking about how our week was and what plans we had for the weekend. I was a complete daddy's girl from the start, so those Friday afternoons were always the best. I wanted things to stay that way forever. Unfortunately, that couldn't happen.

"My dad died from AIDS when I was ten. I was completely shattered, and so was my mom. While she resorted to self-harm, I locked away my words. I wouldn't talk even to respond to important questions. I was too broken to speak. I was so hollow that I didn't feel as if I had any words to say. In that time of suffering, I had come to rely heavily on my mom.

"However, late one night almost four years later, I heard a loud bang. It scared the crap out of me, but I decided to see what it was anyway. When I got to the room it came from, I discovered that it was from a gun. My mom had shot herself in the head and was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, dead. I had no idea how to react, so I ran outside screaming at the top of my lungs and I didn't stop until I ran into a beautiful young woman.

"She helped me up off the ground and calmed me down so sweetly and patiently. After a while, she mentioned this school and said that I should attend it. I did so, and I've been a lot happier since. I don't think I would be surprised if she was genuinely an angel..."

Unlike the others, no tears fell from Erica's eyes. She was quite obviously crushed by having to talk about such a thing, but she didn't even have to blink to keep back tears.

A couple moments passed before Samantha broke the silence. "I know that I will break down if I go into any of the detail, but I will just stick with basics. Last winter, my parents died in a blizzard that swept through the part of Iceland where we lived. After about a week, I did meet a nice woman who offered to pay for me to go to this school. And...I think I will be stopping there."

Olivia drew in a deep breath. "I really don't want to bring this up, but...I guess it's only fair."

Cordelia's eyes widened and she looked stunned. "You're not serious, are ya...? From what you told me, it doesn't seem like talkin' 'bout it isn't somethin' you'll recover from as quickly as the rest of us."

"I can do this. I'll be just fine." She sighed and looked down at her lap. "My parents were so loving. I got whatever toys I wanted, and I never had a bedtime. I was allowed to do things when I wanted, exactly how I wanted to. I didn't really have many rules to follow at all. The lack of rules didn't make me act like a spoiled brat, mind you. I was allowed to continue living without any rules because I the sweetest little thing. Fabulous, too, even not being allowed to wear dresses, skirts, or jewelry.

"Ah, yes, that was the issue..." She sighed and paused for a moment. "My name was Oliver and I was an adorable little boy. My parents would always laugh and tell me how funny I was whenever I asked to buy a dress or girl's shoes, or tried to reach my mom's makeup. They'd remind that I was a boy, and that boys don't like that stuff. But I always loved it, and I always dreamed of being a girl. I wanted to go to a school for girls, I wanted to sing in the all-girls choir at church I wanted to be a beautiful bride when I got married, I wanted to wear pretty dresses with lots of frills, I wanted to wear makeup and girly hairpins. But above everything else..." She sniffled and wiped tears from her eyes, only to have more to replace them. Her voice was beginning to get choked, and it the increasing difficulty of talking for her was obvious. "...above everything else, I just wanted to be female. There was nothing in the whole world that I wanted more than that, but my parents just laughed and told me how funny my jokes were. After a while, though, they told me that it was getting old and it wasn't funny anymore. But it was never meant to be a joke. I wasn't insisting it to be funny.

"My next birthdays came and went, and each time, I took the extra privileges it gave me to dress in the most feminine way I could. It was on my fourteenth birthday that my dad decided to put his foot down. 'You are not a girl! Stop prancing around, stop joining all the girly clubs at school, and learn how to be a man! You're a man, Oliver, and that's never going to change! Nothing you say or do is going to make you female, and just because you act feminine isn't going to make you a girl! Stop joking around, because after twelve years, it's gotten old!' So I screamed right back at him about everything I had kept locked up. I wasn't joking, I really was a girl, even how much I hated him and wanted him to die. I told him just how much he deserved to burn in Hell, if there was such a thing. I made it clear I wasn't confused, that I was just born in the wrong body. He yelled right back at me, using words like 'homo,' 'queer,' and a few other words not fit for a lady like me to use. I told him I would be straight if I was a boy and that I was a lesbian as the girl I always was, and ran straight up to my room, because I didn't want to hear anything else he had to say.

"That evening, I ran away. I stole two hundred dollars from the nightstand drawer on my dad's side of my parents' bed, packed a suitcase, and ran away. There was no reason for me to stay, because I knew my mom agreed, though she didn't say anything. I was able to hear them talking at night if I sat by the vent. They didn't want a transgendered daughter or a gay son, they wanted the straight cisboy they were expecting Oliver to grow up to be. Unfortunately for both them and me, that didn't happen.

"So for a year, I was getting along on my own without a house or a family or anyone to rely on. But I met a generous young lady who offered to take me somewhere that I could find friends, where I'd get a place to stay for free, and a good education. On top of that, I wouldn't be judged. That's what I wanted more than anything at that point. I wanted a place where I wouldn't be judged for being a girl born as a boy. And that's how I got here."

She was looking down, making sure to keep her face hidden, but it didn't hide the fact she was crying. Her whole body was shaking, and small droplets were dampening the skirt of her dress, causing the circles of fabric they covered turn a darker shade of blue than what was around them.

"So," Annabeth said, forcing herself to sound bored and disinterested, "this means it's my turn now, I suppose."

"Of course," Hunter responded.

"Bu' only if ya feel comfortable with it," Cordelia piped up. "Ya don't have to."

"Yes, we do not want to make you do something like that," Samantha added.

That doesn't mean we don't care, though," Erica assured her. "We don't want to drag anything out of you. If you don't want to say anything, we won't pry, but we really do want to hear your story if it isn't too painful to talk about."

Annabeth shook her head. "No, of course not. Here goes, then. I was born into a very high middle-class family in Berlin, Germany on June twenty-ninth, two thousand. I had a kind-hearted mother whose patience never ran out, a hard-working father who loved novels and strategy games, and a loyal and always-sweet maid whom I was particularly attached to. I was much more open and playful back then, but before any of you pity me, I merely grew up, I didn't become depressed.

"So as to to move this story along without bogging it down with any more pointless details, I'll skip to the part that actually matters. On the first day of summer, my parents took me out to a beautiful park. Someone there apparently wanted my parents and me dead, because we were attacked. Both my parents were slaughtered, but I was protected. Who protected me, how they protected me, and why they protected me are three things that are far beyond my knowledge. All I know is that I'm still alive.

"I decided to take up studying as a new hobby, as I had much more free time. Still, my maid forced me to spend time with my cousin Nathaniel, which was altogether ridiculous. He expected me to be exactly the same as always, and he didn't even believe I'd pay any mind to my parents' deaths. Playing along with his beliefs has become much too annoying and tedious for my liking, but my maid wouldn't like it if I allowed him to see the me that came from the incident, so I most certainly do abstain from telling him the truth. My maid is exceedingly unpleasant when upset, so I think I'd prefer not provoking her.

"As soon as I was at American high school level, my maid began pestering me about this school. However, I spent the first year at that level being homeschooled, just as I had the previous four school years. For the next grade level, she made me move here, saying it would please Nathaniel. I suspect she also had other reason as well, but whatever the case, I'm still here."

While most of it was difficult and painful to say, she had always been a naturally good actress, so she was able to keep a flat tone and blank expression through the whole story.

"I'm so sorry for you..." Erica whispered.

"Does it not hurt at all?" Samantha questioned.

"As I've stated, I don't want your pity," Annabeth responded bluntly. "And I've learned to accept pain, along with hate, anger, and depression. Though some experience more than others, everyone must live through all four of these things. Whether you choose to accept them or not is entirely your decision, but you'll get nowhere if you choose to reject that fact. There is no possible way to move forward without the cruel sting of every bit of hurt you've ever suffered through. I choose to accept this, because my life would never mean a thing if I was unable to move ahead."

There were several minutes of silence before any of them spoke again.

"That's very true," Erica murmured. "If you've never suffered, then your life doesn't truly hold any meaning..."

More silence.

"This has exhausted me, and a lady such as myself needs her beauty sleep," Olivia sighed.

" 'm not used ta crashin' before one in the mornin', but I think now's a good time to call it quits," Cordelia agreed. "As always, Olivia takes my bed, Erica and Katya can--Well, that won't quite work now..."

"Katya's asleep, and I don't want to wake her up, so we'll sleep here," Erica offered.

"Sounds good. See ya guys in the mornin'."

Annabeth climbed the ladder to the top bunk, ignoring all the murmurs of "Good night" and "Sleep well." She laid down, not even bothering to get under her blankets, and rested her hands on her chest as she stared up at the ceiling. She wasn't sure how long she just laid there idly staring upwards, but it seemed to take several long hours and yet only a mere few seconds for sleep to take hold of her.