2: Ravenwood

"Well...I didn't expect it to be this massive." I said as we approached the school courtyard.

The Victorian era just met the modern years. Old structures and modern decorations flattered one another lightly without overshadowing the other. I was blown away by the pure scale of the building, especially as it could easily house half the country's population within its walls. From what Matthew said, the building had 5 floors, 6 dorms, and several different wings for study.

"Students worldwide come to Ravenwood for study." Natalie laughed, "It wouldn't be very efficient if it was a small school."

"I know that it's just..." I frowned. "It's so much to take in."

"No kidding," Matthew put an arm around my shoulder. "I was overwhelmed when I was a first year as well."

"I believe it." 

"I don't remember how many times I've gotten lost on this floor alone." He grumbled. "I'm in my third year and still, I already know I'm going to get lost a lot."

"You just have no sense of direction." Natalie snickered, earning a pleading look from her boyfriend. 

"Well I'm sorry that mother nature forgot to give me an inner compass." 

I watched as he proceeded to walk off, before shouting at his, "Hey! We have to go this way."

"God damnit!" he cursed, making a few student look at him with varied degrees of shock. 

I let a sigh escape from my lips as I caught sight of the main stairwell. My stomach sank to the ground as I thought about how much work it'd take to get this heavy bag up the precarious staircases. It was almost enough to make me just forget about the case and leave it where it was leaned against.

"Come on. Might as well take it to your room before every comes flooding in." Matthew sighed, grabbing one end. I shot him a grateful look before lifting my side and beginning the long, grueling climb.

Each step was slow torture. They weren't steep but there were a lot of them and I felt out of breath at the first floor. By the time we stopped at the third, I felt like I could sleep for years. I sat against the hallway, enjoying the coolness of the wall and floor thought his clothes. Natalie had stayed behind on the second to stop by her own room. Leaving Matthew and me alone with him trying not to laugh at me. 

I glared at him lightly from my seat on the cold floor. After he caught my look, he grabbed the handle from me and held out his free hand. "Come on, let's find your room."

"Oh joy." I said sarcastically.

"Don't be like that. Besides, most classes are on the fourth floor, be glad." He sighed, "I have to walk from the first."

"You have stamina..." I stood up shakily. "I don't."

"You will. After this year, you could run a few miles easily."

"We'll see."

Matthew laughed, rolling my bag along, as we walked. Looking around each corner for my room. It was surprisingly elusive, hidden on a corner that we had past the first time through. When we had walked back though, we couldn't help but curse the door. I took my bag from Matthew and tried to turn the handle.

"Locked." I grumbled. "Do you think anyone's in?"

"Let's find out." Matthew knocked on the door, three sharp knocks. If anyone was inside, they knew we were here. I jumped, startled by the sound of a crash inside followed by cursing before the door opened revealing a teen looking rather disheveled on the other side.

"What's up?" He yawned, running a hand through his blue streaked hair. He looked as if he'd just rolled out of bed, "You a new roommate?"

"Yeah, I'm Nate." 

"Well, my job is done, I've got to go find my people. See ya later." He ruffled my hair, handing my bag over. I sighed, giving his shoulder a brief punch before he began walking off towards the stairs.

"I'm Mustang," The teen moved aside enough for me to pass by him, closing the door behind him. "Don't mind the boxes, Cedrick will be back in a moment to move them." I shrugged taking a look around.

On first glance, the room looked like your average two-bedroom apartment, minus the kitchen. In its place, there was a third bedroom, all connected to a small hallway where I could see the opened door of the bathroom on the end. I was standing in a living room area, two plush leather couches surrounded a small coffee table, on which sat a radio and a pile of textbooks. Boxes were piled neatly beside one of the couches, I supposed these were the boxes Mustang was talking about.

I rolled my bag over and settled it against the side of the boxes, just out of the way. I glanced around watching as Mustang started back towards his room, "I'm going back to bed, try not to be too loud."

"Sure." I yawned myself, settling into the couch. It was comfortable, more so than it had looked. It wasn't long until I felt my eyes begin to droop under the weight of the impending sleep. I'm not even sure when I'd fallen asleep but at the moment I didn't care. It would pass the time faster if I took a small nap. I fell into the dark grips of sleep, feeling the couch seem to disappear beneath me.

The next thing I knew; I was sitting on a hill, playing with the soft grass beneath me. One of the many that overlooked a large lake beside the tree line. The cool breeze that swept the lake passing over my skin lightly, taking the heat from the midday sun away. The sunlight cascaded off the lake making the waves shine and glow. The water itself was so clear it looked shallow despite the fact that it was several meters deep.

All in all, the day seemed peaceful. A gust of wind made me shiver slightly and I heard a laugh from beside me. A smile tipped at the corners of my mouth, "What are you laughing at?"

"You." I felt my heart skip a beat. The voice was so silky and smooth, deep but not to the point that it became unpleasant. I turned to the male beside me, a smug grin resting on his perfect lips. I had never seen him before. At least; not that I remembered.

"So..." My voice slipped into a pleasant purr, "What do you want to do today?"

"You." The male replied, I rolled my eyes as him.

"That's not what I meant."

"It is our off day, we could go to town and visit Molly's."

"That doesn't sound bad at all right now." I was getting a little hungry.

"Nathaniel." He spoke softly, a gentleness creeping into his voice as I turned my head back towards him, feeling a soft touch against my cheek as I fell into violet eyes.

"..." I said something, but didn't hear. Did I say his name? What is his name? Who is this person I seem to be so friendly with? Why was my heart fluttering from him simply speaking my name? Why did it hurt so much that it was only a dream?

These questions went unanswered as I felt myself getting pulled out of my dream. I frowned lightly as I stirred, feeling the couch beneath me more as the seconds pass. I didn't notice that someone was talking to me until I opened my eyes. A teen with short blond hair was leaned over, shaking my shoulder lightly, "Hey man, you'll catch a cold out here."

I rubbed my eyes, clearing the sleep away as I sat up. "Thanks." I yawned, looking over the boy before me. His blond hair was short, his bangs being the longest as they swept over his eye softly. His eyes were the most striking shade of green, blending with his cream skin with soft contrast. I could tell as he straightened that below that loose shirt, there was bound to be some toned muscles.

I stood, stretching my back, cracking it with a satisfying pop making the teen cringe. "That sounded like it hurt." I shrugged holding a hand out to him.

"I'm Nate, I'm guessing you're Cedrick?" He grinned, accepting my hand.

"Yep. I guess Mustang told you I went out." Cedrick said, turning to his pile of boxes with a sigh. "Which one of the rooms do you want?"

"I don't care, the smaller of them." I was popping my knuckles now as Cedrick leaned over, lifting his pile of boxes almost effortlessly and taking them to the room beside the one Mustang was now occupying.

I grabbed my bag's handle, lifting it and dropping it into my new room on the bed. It had just a basic comforter and sheets, I sighed, wishing I'd brought my extra set with me. There was nothing special about the room, just a bed, dresser, basic desk, nightstand, window seat and a small closet. I opened another door beside the dresser, finding that it was adjacent to the bathroom. Good to know. The room was dimly lit by the suns glow behind the curtains, but not bright enough. I walked over to the cloth shades and pulled them aside, flooding the room with light.

I couldn't help but stand there, especially with the view I found myself with. I just knew I'd find myself hanging out around this window often. I could see the lake where my dream had been. I even saw where I'd been sitting. 

There were students sitting on benches in the courtyard directly below in groups and pairs. All meeting or reuniting, I even caught sight of Matthew and Natalie sitting with a few others. A small smile crept onto my expression, my brother was a sorry sight this summer. He complained constantly about not being able to see his friends. I've had to snap at him a few times because of it. But seeing him now, I felt bad.

"What a view." A voice said from beside me, snapping me out of my reverie. I jumped, turning to face a cute girl sitting beside me. She giggled at my reaction, "Sorry, I don't have much presence."

I waved it off, "Don't worry, I was just off in my own world." The girl was playing with her long chestnut hair, twisting the ends. Her eyes shining in the light, appearing almost like a deep chocolate, her tanned skin bringing out the dark shade even more.

"I completely get it." She laughed.

"Oh, you were in here." I heard Cedrick speak from the doorway, "I was looking for you Kara." He stepped over, kissing her cheek lightly.

"Girlfriend?" I asked, earning a nod from both of them. I sighed, it seemed that everyone around me had a partner. "Thought so."

"Yeah, just make sure you don't stick around on Saturday nights." Mustang called from the other room, appearing in the doorway. "Trust me. You don't want to hang around when these two decide to get the mood going."

"Mustang!" Cedrick looked appalled, Kara laughing at his reaction. "and why are you laughing?!"

"Because you're all bashful." She cooed, kissing the side of his jawline. I watched with amusement as a pink blush crept into his cheeks. "You know I love messing with you."

"In more than one way."

Mustang slipped away towards the bathroom as Cedrick threw his shoe at the snickering teen. I grinned. I had a feeling that things would never get boring with these roommates. It seemed that Mustang and Cedrick knew one another. I had my suspicion confirmed when I had asked Cedrick about it.

"We met each other last year having several classes together." He shrugged, "It's required to have more than one to a room and since I had been rooming with seniors, when they graduated I was moved here."

"Cool."

Cedrick gave me a look before we could hear knocking at the door. "Hang on." He swiftly kissed Kara and stepped out. I could just barely hear the click of the door opening before I heard an unfamiliar voice speaking. Kara heard as well, getting up and following after her boyfriend and squealed, laughter soon following.

I sighed and leaned against the wall, watching my brother seeming to explain something with his arms flailing around. It was pretty funny to watch. I could almost hear his excited voice and just that alone made me smile. Matthew was perhaps one of the oddest guys I knew, but I didn't have very many male friends to compare that to. Females either as I tended to keep to myself most of the time. 

Perks of being an introvert.

Although I could see that changing. I won't be able to get away with sticking to my own as much as normal, especially once school starts in a week. I was not looking forward to it in the slightest. But it's not as if I took the trip all the way out here in the mountains to sit on my lazy a*s all day. I came for school and I planned on studying while I was here.

I gazed out the window, losing myself in the scenery just beyond the bricks that marked the edge of the courtyard. The grass was so green, I don't think I've seen it in this bright a shade, the trees even more so. The nature here was so healthy, without all the pollution that had marred the health of the trees and plants back home. Even the air was clean and pure. The sky a brighter shade of blue with the fluffiest white clouds I have ever seen. The world outside my window looked like a painting, beautiful and colorful. The different shades blending and complementing one another.

I could get used to this view.

But after a while I pulled away and rose from my seat, deciding to take a walk around the building. It wouldn't hurt to explore a little. Cedrick mentioned something about going to eat soon. It was almost lunch time after all. I just waved him off, replying something along the lines of meeting him and Mustang in the dining hall later. 

After all, I had a school to explore.