Jocelyn slept dreadfully the entire night, constantly tossing and turning. At one point she even thought she felt someone messing with her hair, bolting upright in her bed with her eyes wide and her breath coming in heavy, panicked gasps. She’d climbed out of her bed and walked through the house, making sure all the door were locked and that her brother was in his bed and not hiding under bed to mess with her. After she assured herself that everything and everyone was as it should be, Jocelyn still could not find her way back to sleep. She’d stared up at her ceiling for hours on end, her mind curiously blank and ears straining to pick up any sounds that did not fit into the usual groans and creaks of the house settling. She was up out of bed before her alarm clock went off, shuffling herself into the shower in order to even be able to function. Even after she got dressed, threw her hair up and trudged down the stairs to get some toast and orange juice, Jocelyn was still feeling off kilter. She couldn’t shake the idea that there was someone else in the house. Several checks in all the rooms, and a double check on the locked doors could not convince her that she was imagining things.

She was unusually quiet when Aidan drove her to school that morning, remaining silent when her brother tried baiting her into one of their usual playful arguments. “You alright?” He asked right before he pulled up to her school, Jocelyn’s head turning briefly to nod her reply before turning back to stare out the window. When it was time for her to get out of the car, Aidan called out to her. “Try and have a good day, alright?” She nodded again, unable to vocally respond to him. She was too tired, and too stressed to come up with one of her witty retorts, and if she was honest with herself, she just didn’t feel like it. She felt off, her mind dampened by fatigue and her thoughts sluggish. It wasn’t a feeling that she enjoyed at all, and it took all of her might not to grab her phone and call her brother to come pick her back up. She didn’t want to be there, but unfortunately for her she knew she was stuck there for the rest of the day.

Math class was always a struggle, but that morning it was absolute torture. Tony tried talking to her, but she would only shake her head and wave him back toward his seat, not wanting to get into a discussion about what was going on with her. How was she supposed to explain that she was losing her mind? People already thought she was on the border line of crazy; they’d lock her away like her mother if they knew what was going on inside her mind.

The next few classes weren’t any easier, her eyes threatening to droop if she remained sitting still for more than a few seconds. In each classed she asked to use the bathroom, heading into the girls room to splash icy cold water on her face in hopes that it would help her sit through the rest of class without drifting off to sleep. Luckily for her, the usual squad of prissy little princesses were surprisingly quiet, even after their little scuffle the day before. They’d passed her in the hallway, glaring angrily and peering down their noses at her, but Jocelyn had only rolled her eyes and ignored them. She didn’t have the energy to fight, and she knew if they decided to gang up on her today she’d end up with her face beat into the tiled floor before a teacher could come to the rescue. That didn’t mean she was going to cower away when they walked past. She stood her ground, bracing herself for a shove, and when nothing came she moved on, heading to chemistry and her almost forgotten apology to Tora.

Seeing said boy sitting at their table, Jocelyn drew in a sharp breath, hoping that he wasn’t going to make her words of apology difficult. The wink proved her wrong, and she knew she was going to be in for a long class period. He was upbeat while she was dragging. Her retorts were going to be slow in coming, and he would quickly pick up on her lethargy and take advantage of it, not to mention the apology which felt like some huge sign of weakness. Still, she did regret the way he’d left her house, and she honestly couldn’t deal with the guilt that came along with the fact that it had been entirely her fault.

Dropping her backpack on the ground, she dropped into her seat, twisting around to face Tora. “Before you even start, let me say that I’m sorry for chasing you out of my house. That doesn’t mean that I like you, but it was rude and I apologize.” She huffed out a heavy sigh, quickly turning back around to face the front of the classroom. “But don’t even think for a second that I want you at my house. All I need is for my aunt to start thinking I have some boy interested in me. Next thing I know she’s buying me makeup and dresses and forcing me to go to school dances. I want no parts of that at all.” Satisfied that she’d done what she set out to do, Jocelyn lowered her head down to the desk and closed her eyes, no longer possessing the energy to remain sitting upright. She didn’t care if she slept through class. As far as she was concerned, they were lucky she’d even showed up at school that day. She could only hope that Tora wouldn’t give her a hard time, but if he did, she wanted to have enough energy to dish out exactly what he dealt.

Tora wasn't sure what to expect today to bring. As students began to come into the classroom he noticed a distinct lack of Jocelyn and couldn't help but feel disappointed by that fact. She had seem awfully cross with him last night, had he really done enough to warrant skipping school? That was a shame, it meant Chemistry was going to be utterly miserable. It also meant of course that his keeping an eye on her was going to become that much more difficult, and he might need to pass on school himself for the day. Before he got even the chance to rise from his chair the Princess finally let herself in, just barely beating the bell and the arrival of the teacher. Tora was quick to greet her, both in a patronizing and slightly earnest fashion as he waved her over to their shared table. Upon closer inspection he noticed how exhausted Jocelyn looked, unable to hide the frown that tugged on his features. She didn't look at all like she had gotten rest that night, or if she had it had been terribly poor. For the life of him he couldn't guess what might of caused it, yet that didn't keep him from being concerned. If the Princess was dead on her feet when he took her home he'd get chewed out, that wasn't any good.

"Wait... You're apologizing? To ME?" Tora's frown quickly inverted into a wide grin, quite amused by the change of pace. That had certainly come out of left field, he hadn't expected to hear those words from Jocelyn at all. To think it was over how she had behaved last night too, how silly. It hadn't quite bothered him, honestly it had been amusing if anything. If she felt the need to make amends though he wasn't going to rain on her parade. "Well, apology accepted, just don't let it happen again." Excellent, he had some ammunition for annoying her before the class even began. Of course he was going to pull his punches now, both in part to their relation and also because Jocelyn looked like she might topple over any second. Tora hoped she could keep up today, and if not he'd try to get her to go home and rest, one way or another. Smirking with some hint of self satisfaction Tora leaned over and fished out his book and notebook, figuring he'd at least feign interest in what the instructor was talking about. The chance to goof off with Jocelyn greatly overruled the class, even if it might be something he could find interesting. Dropping both onto the flat surface he folded his arms over them, waiting for the lesson to begin.

Unlike yesterday where they had undergone a simple experiment today was going to be simple notes and discussion. There could literally not be a worse scenario, Tora mused, barely suppressing a groan of boredom. He couldn't care less what the atomic number of salt was, or how many molecules of such and such were in magnesium. He knew a lot of that already, and the rest was just arbitrary and would never be used. Not unless you were one of those book geeks who loved spurting out random information just to seem smart, they ate up this information. While the teacher prattled on Tora rested an elbow on the table, his head laying idly across his palm as he scribbled in his notebook. Which one are you, teach? he wondered, smiling as he glanced up at the instructor. Probably the book geek, he looked the type to be overly fond of stupid little facts. Seriously, what was the practical application of all of this? He didn't mind learning so long as there was a clear purpose behind all of it, this matter just seemed like nonsense.

"Pssst... Jocelyn. Jocelyn?" Tora looked over at his classmate, giving her shoulder a prodding as she was dozing off. "Come on, don't leave me alone here, I'm going to go insane. Wake up will you?" No way was he going to sit through class and actually participate, this was way too dull to take part in. Smiling mischievously he moved his hand down a little, prodding at the Princess' thigh with his finger and whispering to her, "Or are you dreaming about me? I mean if you are then by all means, sleep. But I think the teacher is gonna get pissy if he sees you dozing off like this, fair warning."

“Yes, I’m apologizing to you. Don’t get used to it.” Jocelyn snapped at him, trying not to make anything about the way he received her apology. She hadn’t thought she had been too rude to him the night before, but then again, she was too tired to remember much of anything from that time. It felt like a lifetime ago, but time was playing games with her and she knew it. At one point she could barely remember what class she was supposed to be in, but after a few minutes thought she ended up figuring it out without making an idiot of herself. “I really didn’t mean to chase you out of the house. Aidan got on my case about it, which is why I’m apologizing. “ She knew there was a bit more to it than that, but she wasn’t about to admit that she actually felt guilty for how he had left. He was actually one of the first people to actually talk to her, and she knew she should try to treat him a bit nicer than she was, but it was rather difficult to actually do so when she was used to how she treated everyone else.

Gradually she began to doze off as the teacher began talking, the sound of his voice as effective as a sleeping pill in her already exhausted state. She couldn’t for the life of her even remember why she hadn’t slept the night before, but it didn’t matter once her head fell onto her arms and her eyes closed. She felt her body relax even in the awkward, hunched over position she was in, and within seconds she was on her way off to sleep. She couldn’t recall a time in her life when she had ever been as tired as she was, and there was absolutely no fighting the heaviness of her eyelids once they finally closed. Her mind was completely silent for the first time in days, and she was happy to accept that she would probably get detention for falling asleep in class.

And then Tora decided to intervene, much to her dismay. The words could have easily been ignored, but the jolt of electric that shot up her leg when he poked her thigh wasn’t as easy to overlook. Bolting upright in her seat, her eyes swung over to him, a scowl etched on her face. “The only thing I would dream about doing to you is wringing your scrawny neck.” She hissed in a whisper, reaching over to slap his hand even though he had already removed it from her. “He wouldn’t even notice I was asleep if you weren’t over here broadcasting it.” She kept her voice as low as she could, but she still managed to earn the teacher’s notice, his eyes glaring in her direction. She feigned an innocent look, her finger pointing straight at Tora. “He’s molesting me. I was telling him to keep his hands to himself.” She watched as the man shot Tora a stern look and the moment that he turned away she smirked slyly over at her classmate. “Ha. Looks like he’s more pissed at you than he is at me.”

Mr. Gervias looked back over at their table, clearing his throat loudly to gain both her and Tora’s attention. “Jocelyn and Tora, since you think it’s funny to disrupt my discussion, perhaps you’ll find it funny if I disrupt your plans after school. One hour detention for both of you. I expect you to be here ten minutes after the bell and not a second later.” Jocelyn glared at the man heatedly, giving only a single nod of her head to show that she heard him. When his attention turned back she turned her glare onto Tora, growling softly under her breath. “See, now you got us in trouble. I could have gone home and taken a nap. But now I have to sit here with Mister Germass watching me.” She didn’t want to think about how mad her aunt was going to be that she had gotten herself into trouble again, but she could easily handle that. All she had to do was say it was for talking in class, and her aunt would be absolutely tickled pink; she never got in trouble for talking. If she was talking, that meant she had a friend, and that was all her aunt got on her case about.

Jocelyn remained quiet for the next few minutes, at least until the sound of squeaky shoes in the hallway drew her attention. Peeking out the small window of the door, she saw two students walking down the hall with posters and rolls of tape in hand. It was after a few moments she realized exactly what they were doing and a loud groan vibrated in her throat. Yet another cheesy school dance that she had forgotten about, only this time she wasn’t going to be able to escape it, having promised Tony that she would go with him after he pestered her for over a week about the last one. Slouching down in her seat, Jocelyn covered her face with her hand, mentally wishing that the day from hell she was suffering through would be brought to an end. Between detention, and the reminder of some dance she didn’t want to go, she couldn’t even begin to imagine how her day could get even worse.

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure this is the only apology I'll get, so I'm going to cherish it," Tora replied, smirking teasingly. He would admit though, he probably deserved to be chased out. Especially after his behavior during Jocelyn's trance, that was inexcusable, even for him. Boy she had looked pretty though, he couldn't well not do anything. "So you only apologized to me because Aidan made you?" he reiterated, putting a hand on his chest and feigning a hurt look. "And here I thought this was coming from the heart. You're so cruel..." After that it was all he could do not to start laughing, biting his lower lip with a cheeky grin as he looked away. Not like he had to be inside her home to watch over her anyways, staying outside worked just as well. Granted, sitting on a sofa or bed was much more pleasant than, say, a tree or rock, but he'd do what he had to. Looking up at the head of the class as Mr. Gervais began to give his lecture Tora took out a notebook and pen, idly scrawling down to pass off as being busy. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jocelyn gradually falling asleep, a bit surprised as he figured she'd have slept plenty fine last night. Hm... Should he let her pass out or keep her awake? Might as well keep her up.

In a way Tora figured he was doing the princess a favor by keeping her awake, otherwise she would get in trouble. That sentiment didn't come across however as Jocelyn was annoyed with him, evidently not appreciating him prodding at her thigh to rouse her from her slumber. It was either that or the boob, he mused, smirking as he listened to her complain. "Wring my neck...? Is assault really worth a few minutes of sleep...? I think you have a problem Jocelyn." he teased, resting his head in his hand. At this point he scarcely paid any mind to the lesson at hand, and totally missed the dirty look the teacher gave him, too focused on Jocelyn. The accusation of molesting her however got a response out of him, blinking confused and looking up at the teacher, getting a nasty glare that time. Sighing softly he shook his head, placing his chin back in his hand as he looked at the princess out of the corner of his eye. "He's still pissed at you though. So... Hah," he retorted, a rather weak reply for him.

And the fun wasn't even over yet, Mr. Gervais still had a stick up his ass. Looking back to the front as they were singled out for chatting Tora hardly bothered to suppress the groan he made when they were handed a detention. He could play school all day, but once that final bell struck he had other things to do. Getting some stupid disciplinary action from a teacher didn't fall under that, yet unfortunately he had to go through with it. "Yes Mr. Gervais... Sorry..." he said lamely, smiling bitterly when the man turned back around. Maybe he'd leave a burning bag of feces on that man's doorstep before he left, just as a little thank you for the fun class. Glancing back to Jocelyn he smiled amused, reaching over and prodding her arm. "If I was the only one talking then I'd be the only one in trouble. But, I wasn't, was I? So don't blame me because you talked too." If she thought for a second he was going to play nice right now then she was going to be disappointed. He knew he ought to be kinder to the girl who was going to be in charge of him someday, but boy it was fun messing with her!

Mercifully the remainder of the school day had gone by in a flash, yet they were hardly out of the woods. Detention still loomed over their heads like a dark cloud and there was no getting out of it, so dutifully Tora marched along to Mr. Gervais' classroom. Already finding Jocelyn inside he let a smug smile cross his lips, hardly caring about the look the teacher was giving him as he walked over to sit beside the princess. "Don't look so glum, Jocelyn, we get to spend more time together!" Not a bad thing really, he could definitely watch over her now. Shame it had to be in a place as stuffy as this though, he would much prefer going to her house again. Heh, maybe she'd have another trance and he could sneak another peek, if he was lucky. Quickly changing his thoughts to less perverse ones Tora set his bag on the tabletop, taking out a textbook to look like he was studying. Holding it up he skimmed over the words, hardly taking them in as he did so. "So how were the rest of your classes? Miss me in them?"

Jocelyn managed not to choke the life out of Tora once they were assigned detention, although that was because she knew there was no way her aunt could forgive her an assault charge if she ended up in jail. “He wouldn’t have been pissed off at either one of us if you would have let me sleep.” She muttered grouchily, not even bothering to hide the fact that she was annoyed. “What is your fascination with talking to me anyway? Don’t you have any friends that you can bother and molest?” True, he had only been at the school for one day, but Jocelyn knew he had to have encountered someone else that he could pester besides her. A part of her actually liked the attention, even though she couldn’t really understand why, but that certainly didn’t stop her from trying to push him away as much as she could. She didn’t need the hassle that Tora brought along with him, and talking to him was already starting to get her into her fair share of trouble, which she did not enjoy in the slightest.

The rest of the day went by just as slowly as her morning, each class equally as boring as the one before, and she spent half of her time trying not to fall asleep in practically each and every one of them. She was glad that Tora was only in one of her other classes, and it was easy for her to avoid him when she was too busy finishing up her drawing to take notice of him. By the time the end of the day rolled around, the only thing she really wanted to do was crawl into her bed, pull the blankets up to her chin and sleep through the rest of the year, but she was stuck in detention, and there was no way in the world she could risk skipping it. Mr. Gervias would be on the phone before she even reached her house, and her aunt would have driven her straight back to school and made her serve out extra time just to spite her.

Making her way back to her Chemistry classroom, Jocelyn shot a dismayed look at Tora, rolling her eyes at his attempt to engage her in a conversation. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a pest? If not, let me be the first to share that bit of information with you.” She made her way back to their shared table and sat down, dropping her backpack onto the floor beside her chair. “And no, I did not miss you. In fact, if I ever say that I do you should have me committed to the first psychiatric ward.” Jocelyn rested her head back on the table, burying her face into her folded up arms. No sooner did she get comfortable did the teacher enter the room, instantly telling her to lift her head up and sit up right. ‘Bite me you old perv. Don’t think I didn’t see you trying to peek down Sarah’s shirt earlier. That’s probably why you’re telling me to sit up, freak.’

“Now then.” Mr. Gervias proclaimed, peering over at Tora and Jocelyn. “You two are to sit silently for the next hour. If I hear a peep out of either of you, you’ll be back here tomorrow afternoon.” Jocelyn rolled her eyes in annoyance but said nothing at all. She wasn’t about to spend two days in a row with their annoying teacher and her even more annoying classmate, so she remained absolutely silent. Her mind however, could not remain silent no matter how hard she might try to make it that way. Unfortunately for her, she had no clue that while she thought to herself, those thoughts were going straight into Tora’s mind. ‘I swear, I have no idea why I’m like talking to him. He’s getting me into trouble. Sure he’s kind of cute, but he’s still annoying. Wait…did I really just think he was cute? What the hell is wrong with me? He’s like one of those little talks with the annoying barks, cute to look at as long as he keeps his mouth shut.’

She kept her eyes locked on the front of the room, not wanting to give their teacher a single reason to keep her in detention any longer than that afternoon. As she sat, she began to let her thoughts drift back to the previous night, and why she hadn’t slept, everything that she was thinking still being sent into Tora’s mind. ‘I should talk to Aidan. I bet he was messing with me last night. But how in the world did he pull my hair and get back into his room so fast? Maybe I pulled my own hair? No, that’s not right. But if it wasn’t Aidan, and I didn’t get it stuck in the headboard did I dream it? It doesn’t matter. I just hope it doesn’t happen tonight, I really need some sleep.’ The remainder of detention she thought up random things to try to keep herself occupied, everything from what she would do when she got home, to stopping by the mall that weekend to get a new pair of shoes. Unfortunately for her, everything that went through her mind also went straight to Tora, although luckily for her, aside from the ‘cute’ remark there wasn’t much that he could hold against her.

"Me? A pest? Jocelyn... Honestly, all these hurtful words today. I'm beginning to get the impression you don't like me." Actually, that impression had been made quite a long time ago, more or less the first instant they had spoken. if he was truly as annoying as she said though then she'd take more action against him aside from just verbally biting him now and again. It might be a bit of a stretch, but Tora felt like Jocelyn was actually enjoying his presence. Heh... Sadist, having fun with someone like him. Pouting when she gave another harsh remark he shook his head, sighing lamentably as he looked away. "Oh Jocelyn... You make me so sad, you know that...? And I've done nothing to deserve all of this hate." If this was how detention worked then it was going to be fun, he could definitely get used to this. Mr. Gervais was quick to enter and completely ruin that hope however, detention wasn't going to be even remotely as entertaining as he'd imagined. What's more they had to stay utterly quiet for an entire hour, not a single peep or they'd receive further punishment. To sit beside Jocelyn for an entire hour and not say a word, well damn... That was going to be a boring session.

Sitting in silence beside the princess was somehow uncomfortable, and Tora couldn't place why that was. Every time they had been around one another, sans her little trance, they had been speaking. It had only been a day in the making, but he'd become accustomed to their incessant back and forth, it was fun. Not having it now was pretty disappointing, he didn't know what to do with himself now. To his surprise and moderate delight he heard Jocelyn's voice after a few moments, looking over at her with a smile. A bit perplexed seeing her not speaking whatsoever it quickly dawned on him what the case was, she was using telepathy. With a knowing smirk he glanced away, acting none the wiser as he began to listen in on her thoughts. Some of the very first words that crossed her mind nearly made him guffaw loudly, he had been called cute! Sure, cute might be a ways away from 'sexy' or 'gorgeous', but it meant there was some attraction. Hah! Even after all his nonsense and constant teasing she still thought he was cute, that was pretty funny. If he behaved himself, even threw in some more suave moves he mused whether or not he could really seduce Jocelyn, it would be fun to test sometime.

Not being able to talk meant her thoughts were going wild, and Jocelyn had an awful lot to say. Opening up the way she had Tora had become pretty excited to hear more, curious to hear more about himself. Topics changed promptly after that however, and to something that was much more deserving of his attention. Something as simple as pulling hair wouldn't warrant much attention if it didn't seem so suspicious to him. Having someone yank on your hair was awfully hard to imagine, and to do it and slip away unseen so swiftly was awfully difficult. Aidan couldn't possibly have done it, there was no way he could move quickly enough, he was a regular old human. When had something gotten past him though? Had it been when he was away, or had he truly overlooked something? That was troubling... So someone, or something had made contact with Jocelyn. That meant the people he was working against knew where she was, and they were bold. Great, now he really had to keep an eye on her, lest she fall into their hands. Surveillance just during the evenings wouldn't be enough, it was going to be a full time job.

The remainder of Jocelyn's thoughts were rather bland and uninteresting after that. Just as well, it meant Tora could focus more on the problem at hand. She was definitely in danger, someone other than him had approached her in her sleep and gotten close enough to touch her. Thankfully they hadn't harmed her, and he couldn't pick out any indication that magic had been used. So was it just a scare tactic then? Considering all of the possibilities Tora had to wonder if he'd been made, if whoever this person was knew of his existence. He'd taken every precaution he could have to keep himself hidden, if he'd been spotted then he was dealing with someone pretty good. Wonderful, why couldn't he have an idiot who exposed themselves so he could be done with it quickly? Glancing up at the clock he groaned inwardly, quite annoyed they still had fifteen minutes. He had to get to work, he needed to look for any clues of what he was dealing with, not sit here wasting his time. Eying Mr. Gervais disdainfully at the front of the class he debated on knocking the man out, he could easily get up there and do it before anyone knew what happened. How would he explain something like that to Jocelyn though? Meh... Like it or not he was going to have to sit out the remainder of detention, he couldn't risk putting himself out there, not just yet.

"Jocelyn... Hey, wait up!" After detention both he and Jocelyn had been quick to leave, and she was more than ready to be done with him. Tora couldn't let her wander off without somehow passing on a word of warning to her, he had to make certain she took precautions. Since walking her home was pretty well out of the question he had to think of something else, another way to keep her safe without outright saying it. "Listen... I know you hate my and all, but..." he began, trying to come off as reluctant. Looking away he pursed his lips slightly, sighing as he folded his arms over his chest. "I'm behind in my classes, and... Could use some help. You're the only one I know in the school really, so... Think I could get a hand...?" It was a bold faced lie, the curriculum here was an utter joke. It it meant getting a chance to keep in touch with Jocelyn however then Tora would happily play the dummy. Looking back at the princess he smiled meekly, reaching into his pocket and taking out his cell phone. "Can I have your number...? I promise I won't text you and bother you, I'll save that for when we're in class. I'll only text for emergencies, okay?"

Jocelyn managed to sit silently through detention, letting out a rather loud sigh of relief the second she was granted freedom. She bolted straight toward the door the minute the teacher dismissed them, and would have been happily on her way home if Tora hadn’t called after her to stop. She paused, folding her arms across her chest to stare at him as he talked about how he was falling behind. Jocelyn sighed heavily, pondering whether or not she should actually help him out. She really didn’t hate him, that was too strong of a word to describe what she felt. The problem was, she couldn’t put a finger on exactly what she felt about him. She was curious why he asked her to help him when she wasn’t exactly the ideal student herself. Even she could see through his excuse, and the skeptical look on her face would probably tell him exactly that.

“Let me get this straight. You’ve been here all of what, two…three days? And you’re asking me, little miss C student for help?” A brow crept up toward her hairline, shaking her head slowly. “I would have bought you wanted to learn my recipe for fried chicken more than I believe that line, Tora.” Debating whether or not to give him her number, Jocelyn began to move forward waiting to see if he was going to follow her around. When he didn’t, she turned back to him, motioning to him to follow. “Well, come on.” Jocelyn believed that there was something going on with Tora that he didn’t want to go home, and after how she had treated him the previous day, she felt guilty about chasing him out of her house when he was trying to avoid the very place she chased him off to. That was her assumption at least, she had no idea if she was right or not.

She began to move again, this time wasting no time getting to the exit of the building only to sit down on the curb to wait for her brother to pull up. “Look, you obviously got something going on, which explains why you are such a pest. You need attention, I get it. So, you can come home with me. But, if you give my aunt the idea that we’re dating, I’m going to have to hurt you, and I mean really hurt you. I’ve spent the past four years telling her that I’m not interested in dating, and bringing a boy home isn’t going to help with that.” She didn’t understand what he was going through, but if it meant keeping him quiet and from bothering her in class and getting her into more trouble, she could deal with him coming to her house after school for a few days, at least until he grew bored and decided to find somewhere else to go. She’d give him till the end of the week to get tired, then she’d tell him to find somewhere else to hang out.

Not too surprisingly Miss Dominque found her way to the front of the building, waving cheerfully over at Jocelyn. “Get into trouble again, Jocelyn?” The woman looked over at Tora and flashed a smile. “And apparently you brought company along with you.” Jocelyn shrugged her shoulders, muttering a quiet response under her breath. “He is the trouble.” The teacher arched a brow at her, leaning in as if she were trying to catch what Jocelyn was saying. “What was that dear?” Shaking her head, Jocelyn tried to smile, not sure why the teacher always seemed to always find her no matter where she was in the building or outside of it. She had an uncanny ability to track Jocelyn down, and Jocelyn wasn’t sure exactly what to make of it. “Nothing, Miss Dominque.” Jocelyn replied, letting out a relieved breath when her brother’s car swung into the parking lot. “Aidan’s here.” She announced as if Tora couldn’t see the car for himself.

Moving straight to the passenger side door, she popped it open waiting to see if Tora was tagging along or not. She heard her brother question her, but she shook her head, not wanting to explain that she had invited her classmate over for the afternoon, at least not in front of the teacher. Miss Dominque as nice, but she was starting to freak Jocelyn out by always following her around and sticking around whenever she was alone. Sliding into the passenger seat, she closed the door and told Aidan to wait until Tora got into the backseat. She was going to have a hell of a time explaining what was going on to her brother once they got back to her house, and hoped that he would transfer the message over to their aunt so she wouldn’t get the wrong impression. Jocelyn ducked into the seat, trying to hide away from the teacher who was still watching her and Tora closely, although why she was staring at Tora, Jocelyn couldn’t figure out. The only thing that she knew was that there was something off about the teacher, and she wanted some distance before the woman did something crazy.

It was a completely lame excuse, but Tora had to find a way to keep in touch with Jocelyn. He had a cell phone on him but never used it, this might be an excuse for actually having the damn thing now. Clearly a sorry way of going about it, the princess was quick to call him out on the request and shoot him down. Well that went about as well as he'd expected it to, so much for that idea. Beginning to walk off the young man sighed dismally, puzzled just how he would keep abs on her without outright stalking her constantly. Hearing himself be called he looked back at Jocelyn, smiling when she waved him over. Now there was a bit of a surprise, he didn't think he'd be willingly told to come along. Huh, maybe he was actually warming up on her, who knew? Chuckling he went along with Jocelyn to the curb, standing beside her as they waited for Aidan once again. Seriously, she should just walk home, it wasn't all that far away. Though he supposed this way was a little easier in regards to making sure she was safe.

"Something... Going on...?" Tora repeated, sounding dumbfounded. Huh, was it really coming across as him having some troubles at home? He was pretty sure he'd mentioned living alone, or maybe he'd imagined that, he didn't quite know anymore. Having Jocelyn suddenly invite him over and even go as far as extend empathy was quite unusual in his limited experience. Smiling bashfully he rubbed at his neck, looking away as he decided to go along with her little assumption. "Yeah... Lots of drama lately, thanks." Might as well string her along, maybe this gave him more excuse to be around her. Chuckling he put up his hands defensively, looking down at Jocelyn with an innocent smile. "I won't give the wrong idea, honest! Besides being a boyfriend is too much work, I couldn't be bothered. I find it more fun just to annoy you as is." Plus if he dated the princess then that would be the cause of all sorts of trouble back home. Jocelyn might be cute, but she wasn't worth getting his little man knocked off. Nah, someone else could have that can of worms, he'd just admire her from afar, hehe, and maybe have a dream or two.

Jocelyn and Tora were graced then by another person's presence, one of the teachers in the school. Miss Dominique, according to the princess, a face that he recognized well already. The woman had an unusual habit of being around Jocelyn, enough so to the point to arouse suspicion. Saying anything on the matter would only make him seem crazy, and he couldn't well allude to figuring something was amiss with the woman. Whatever her case was she had Jocelyn totally fooled, she didn't seem to find anything amiss. Following Jocelyn to the car time seemed to slow for a fraction of a second as he passed Miss Dominique, scrutinizing the woman with a passing glance before he went to the car. He had to keep an eye on her, even if she wasn't involved there was something peculiar about her. Getting into the back seat of Aidan's car he shut the door, peering out the window casually back at the woman. He was a little surprised to find their gaze meeting, and he did his absolute best to figure something out about her to no avail. No magic as far as he could tell, and she seemed pleasant enough. Damn it, this job was proving to be annoying. Maybe he should just drop out of classes, keep an eye on this woman when he wasn't watching Jocelyn. Hm... He'd have to think about that a bit.

“Again?” Aidan asked when he caught sight of Tora, and Jocelyn shrugged her shoulders. “He said he’s got drama. I figured I’d be nice and cut him a break.” Jocelyn wasn’t certain she was doing it out of the goodness of her heart. She was curious about Tora, or more accurately, about how she felt around him. She didn’t feel the usual sense of repulsion she felt around the rest of her classmates, and in spite of his less than charming personality, she didn’t mind him being around. She actually talked to him which was more than she could say for everyone else with the exception of Tony, her aunt and her brother. Casting a glance she watched as Miss Dominque stared at them, something in her seemed to shift, not anything concrete that Jocelyn could put her finger on, but something subtle that she barely noticed. There was a flicker, just an instant when it looked as if the woman standing in front of her had a set what looked like butterfly wings on her back, her straight black hair turning into a mess of bright red curls. The image held for a split second before the woman returned to normal, a mischievous grin on her lips which she pressed her index finger to in the universal gesture to keep quiet. Shaking her head, Jocelyn blinked her eyes believing that she was hallucinating.

“Joc, what’s wrong with you? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” Snapping back to attention, the girl glanced over at her brother, shaking her head but giving no verbal response. She had no clue what type of answer she should give him. What could she say? ‘I just thought I saw my teacher grow wings.’ Would have had her locked away in a padded room quicker than she could blink, and she didn’t kid herself that she saw it. She was positive that it was her imagination playing tricks on her, and that was exactly what she would continue to believe. “Nothing.” She finally responded, flashing a strained smile at her brother. “I’m fine. Just annoyed that I had to sit through detention, that’s all. Is aunt Alicia pissed?” Aidan shrugged his shoulders and pulled the car into drive once Tora was seated in the back seat. “Nope. I told her you got in trouble for talking and she’s over the moon. Expect a party when you get home.” Jocelyn groaned and sank further into her seat, already dreading going home.

The ride home was quick, too quick in her opinion, but before she knew it they were pulling up into the driveway and getting out of the car. Her aunt Alicia was on the porch the moment that Jocelyn stepped out of the car, and Jocelyn knew she wouldn’t stand a chance of avoiding the woman’s hug. Trudging up the stairs, she stood there as Alicia threw her arms around her shoulder and embraced her tightly. “Jocelyn! I should be lecturing you for getting detention, but I am too happy to care about that right now.” The older woman paused as she looked over her shoulder at Tora, the smile on her face spreading out into a grin. “A boy! You brought a boy home! This is a surprise.” Her aunt nearly rushed forward to hug Tora, but Jocelyn stopped her, grabbing a hold of her arm before she could move. “He’s not my boyfriend aunt Alicia, he’s just some annoying boy who need a place to hang out while he’s got family drama going on.” Alicia looked disappointed for only a moment before she brightened up again. “Well, he’s still a friend or else you wouldn’t have brought him home, and he is a boy, so technically he is a boyfriend.”

Jocelyn scoffed but ducked inside to let her aunt do her thing, knowing that she wasn’t going to hear the end of it. Alicia of course made way for Tora to enter, instantly asking a million question. “And what’s your name, dear? You’ll have to excuse Jocelyn, she rarely brings people home. I don’t believe she knows how to make a proper introduction.” Aidan chuckled as he moved past the two and into the house, heading straight into the kitchen to grab himself a snack. Alicia ushered Tora into the house, following the same path that Aidan had taken. “And of course you must stay for dinner I want to hear all about how you and Jocelyn met, and your family, oh, and…” Aidan finally intervened, nodding for Tora to head up the stairs to escape his aunt. “Aunt Alicia, I think he and Jocelyn have homework to do.” She paused, looking at Tora and then at Aidan. “Of course, of course! Go ahead up to Jocelyn’s room. We’ll have time to chat at dinner.”

Aidan quickly moved to give Tora a light push toward the stairs. “You may want to get up there now while you have the chance, or else she’ll spend the entire time bugging you.” Aidan returned to the kitchen to keep Alicia distracted in order for Tora to make his escape, deciding that asking her to make him something to eat would keep her occupied enough to leave Tora alone.

Tora had missed whatever had Jocelyn momentarily surprised. too lost in his own thoughts. Why was the princess allowing him to come to her home? Joking aside he had been called cute, but that didn't warrant being invited over, she clearly wasn't doing so out of desire for him. The notion she had of him having some drama to deal with technically wasn't wrong, but her thought as to what that drama was exactly was. He couldn't well explain to her what had him so worked up, not without being sent to a ward for being clinically nuts. What's more, now that he'd been around a while there was something bothering him about that Miss Dominique. He really couldn't place it, but something didn't sit well with Tora about that woman. It was like she knew more than she let on and was waiting, but waiting for what? Part of him almost felt he should confront her later and demand answers, just to make sure Jocelyn wasn't in any immediate danger. Hm... Though if he was wrong and she was totally innocent then he'd be in an awful lot of trouble.

Just what was the deal with Jocelyn's aunt anyways? She made the woman sound like a total pain in the ass, Tora was sure she couldn't be that bad. He would find out soon enough, they were just approaching the princess' house now. They had barely pulled into the driveway when a woman approached them, probably the infamous aunt in question. Watching with a hint of curiosity as she embraced Jocelyn he still didn't quite know to make of her. She seemed nice, if a touch too eccentric. She wasn't too bad until she suddenly tried to come at him with a hug, making Tora recoil in surprise. Blinking as Jocelyn stopped her aunt he breathed a sigh of relief, not very keen on having that woman anywhere near him. Seeing the princess duck inside he hoped to do the same, unfortunately being stopped along the way. Chuckling uncertainly while being questioned Tora looked back at the woman, smiling meekly as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "I uh... Well you see..." Jesus, was this woman for real? Thankfully Aidan saw fit to intervene, cutting the overexcited woman off and giving him a window to escape. Nodding gratefully Tora rushed up the stairs, not so much as glancing back lest he warrant more questions.

"I swear... I felt like that woman was going to hug the crap out of my soul..." Tora complained, shutting Jocelyn's door behind him. "Is that seriously how she's always like? The woman seems nuts!" Hell, she didn't really even know who he was! Sure there was no reason to think he might do something badly, but who was that friendly to a total stranger? Christ, if the lady knew just who she was talking to she wouldn't have been half as keen to allow him inside, let alone anywhere near her niece. At least Aidan had been kind enough to distract her, he'd have to remember to thank the guy later. Dropping his bag onto the floor by the door Tora stuffed his hands into his pockets, leaning against the wall and sighing exasperatedly. "Don't get me wrong, she seems like. But I feel like I'm getting the world's kindest interrogation from her, and it's just weird... Is she going to do that at dinner too?" He had thought about pulling the 'We're dating' card tonight just to tick off Jocelyn, but with all the nonsense he was likely going to have to deal with already he didn't want to add onto that. "So... Why did you bring me here? Are you my keeper or something now?"

Jocelyn arched a brow when Tora entered her room, chatting away almost as much as her aunt had been. She thought that the two of them might have gotten along since they both liked to talk, and they both had a habit of not knowing when to leave her alone. If her aunt was younger, Jocelyn would have thought the two would make a perfect couple. ‘Too bad aunt Alicia isn’t our age, it would have been a great way to get Tora off my back.’ She thought to herself, smirking over at the boy as she thought of ways to pawn him off on someone else for the rest of the week. She still felt a bit guilty for it, but she didn’t know if she could handle him being at her house every afternoon after school. She had offered to let him come over on a whim, but now she was beginning to have second thoughts, especially after the way her aunt had reacted. ‘It’s going to be a really long week….’

“No, she just would have hugged you. She’s a bit….affectionate.” Jocelyn was nothing like the rest of her family, not when it came to touching. Aidan wasn’t nearly as bad as her aunt, but even he could be a bit too affectionate from time to time. She preferred the hands off approach, and that apparently made her an oddball with her aunt and brother. “And yes, that is exactly how she is. She has been pushing for me to make friends for as long as I can remember, and since I invited you over she thinks that we are friends.” Casting a glance out of the corner of her eye from where she sat on her bed, Jocelyn regarded Tora with a sharp look. “Do not even begin to think that’s the case.” She wouldn’t say that she and Tora were friends, or anything more than classmates to him, but she considered them at least acquaintances, which in her world was fairly high praise.

Jocelyn shrugged her shoulders in response to his question, but knew without even thinking it over that her aunt would most certainly be treating Tora the same way at dinner. “Maybe. It depends if I feel like stopping her.” Jocelyn could easily get her aunt to stop with any interrogation if she wanted to, but she was tempted to let Tora squirm a bit under her aunts barrage of questions. It would serve him right for getting her detention and not letting her get any sleep in class earlier that day.

His next question gave her pause, the corners of her lips dipping into a frown when she thought over how to answer. She didn’t want to say she felt bad for him, that would imply that she had some type of feelings for him, and getting that out of her would be harder than trying to yank her teeth out. Her shoulders hefted in another shrug, her answers far too personal for her to blurt out the truth. She knew what it was like to have stress at home, those days came quite frequently when her aunt went to visit her mother in the loony bin. “I was being nice for a change. You know, trying to earn some good karma. You’re free to leave whenever you want to, I’m not going to chain you to the bed if that’s what you were hoping.”

"Affectionate? Oh joy, good for me," Tora whined, sighing as he hung his head. "I don't want some crazy old lady chasing me down for hugs and kisses... It's weird..." Plus he just wasn't used to that kind of thing. He never got it back home and as a result had no idea how to respond to it. Sure, it was supposed to be nice, but that was assuming he was familiar with it all. Admittedly he was a bit... Lacking in some departments, many social and emotional ones. Granted he pulled off normalcy pretty well, he had been this entire time, though sooner or later he wouldn't need this facade anymore. When that happened Jocelyn would most certainly not want him to be around, and that stung. Tora was having... Fun, doing this. Even if what he was doing was a lie it was still enjoyable, and he was almost disappointed that he would have to give it up. Glancing back at the princess he quirked an eyebrow, a teasing smile spreading across his lips. "Aw... We're not friends? Shame, I was thinking we were going to have a slumber party and talk about stuff." Girls did that, right? Seemed awfully weird.

So if that was how Alicia behaved then please let the powers be stop her during supper. Really the only way he could get out of being mauled with affection was if Jocelyn intervened. Unfortunately for him she didn't sound like she planned to do that. Giving the princess an exasperated look Tora sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Aw man... So you basically brought me over to torture me then? I'm pretty sure that's illegal here." He could just leave, but where would the fun in that be? So long as the woman wasn't horribly overly-affectionate he could actually have some fun with this. He could always complain too if it became borderline rape, though he'd rather not cause drama. Sigh... There were so many nuances when it came to interacting with other people, it was so annoying.

Tora's question as to why Jocelyn was doing this had him just as confused as she seemed to be. For someone who looked to loathe his presence an invitation to come over to her home was hardly what he had expected. He'd take it, if only because it made his job easier. Plus he got to steal peeks at her more often, so double-win in his book. Waiting a little impatiently for a response the eventual answer made him smile, folding his arms over his chest amused. Even as clueless as he could be sometimes to social cues he could tell Jocelyn was holding something back in her reply, but he wouldn't pursue it any longer. "Well that's awfully nice of you. Don't know what I did to get kindness from the dreaded Jocelyn, but hey, don't look a shark... Uh... Gift in the mouth... Or something..." Hm, colloquial sayings, he'd have to brush up on those. Trying to brush off his small blunder with a smile he walked closer to the princess, grinning as he looked over at the bed posts. "Really? Shoot, and here I was hoping you were into some real kinky stuff. Ah well, some other girl might be, I just have to look harder."

“She wouldn’t kiss you. She does have some standards.” Jocelyn scoffed at the very idea that her aunt would attempt to kiss him, and the very fact that he thought to mention it. Folding her arms across her chest, she shot a glare over at her classmate, her head shaking gently from side to side as if she could dismiss his words from having ever been spoken. “She won’t try to hug you again, not once Aidan warns her. You really can’t hold it against her. She’s happy that I brought someone home that she considers my friend. She’s been nagging at me since kindergarten to be more social.” Her face scrunched up at him in an instant, the slow shake of her head increasing. “We’re not friends, and this isn’t a slumber party. I wouldn’t even know what to do at a slumber party, I’ve never been to one.” Her aunt would probably allow Tora to spend the night if she asked, and that was a scary thought.

“Torture you? I’m fairly certain that is legal. Tony is torturing me on Friday. You know, stupid school dances and all that fun stuff. If I get tortured, so do you.” Jocelyn wasn’t in the mood to be playful, not that she ever really was. Whirling around on Tora, she pointed an accusing finger at him. “If you’d rather go deal with your family drama, there’s the door. Please let it hit you in the ass on your way out of it.” Her aunt might have been insane, but Jocelyn didn’t want to hear Tora bad mouthing her. She meant well, and she only had Jocelyn’s best interest at heart. She wanted to see Jocelyn be normal, which was why she pushed so much.

She began to question herself again, wondering why she wanted Tora at her house when he annoyed her to no end. She thought she was being nice, but now that he was in her house pestering the hell out of her, she was about to toss him out on his butt. “Yes, a virgin into kinky stuff. Because that makes a whole lot of sense.” Jocelyn cringed as Tora came closer, her instincts kicking in and forcing her onto her feet and away from him and her bed. “Stop thinking like that! You’re freaking me out.” She backed up away from him till her back crashed against her dresser, the few knick-knacks littered on top of it rattling around before stilling and remaining upright. Flattening herself up against it, she sighed heavily, motioning for him to move back away from her bed. “Behave like a normal human being and not the pervert that I know you are or else I’ll let my aunt go Missus Robinson on you.”

Jocelyn heard her aunt calling her name from the bottom of the stairs, and knew that it was time for dinner. Leaving Tora up in her room wasn’t an option; her aunt would have drug him right down along with her. “Come on, pervy. Let’s go eat before aunt Alicia comes up here with the camera.” She skirted around, giving him a wide berth. Once she reached her doorway, she rushed straight into the hallway and down the stairs, not giving him the opportunity to catch up with her. Dinner was going to be eventful, much to her dismay, and the only thing she wanted was for it to be done and over with.

"Well that makes two of us, I've never been to one either." Tora retorted, smiling amused as he placed his hands into his pockets. "For someone who thinks we're not friends though it's weird you offer for me to come over like this. I think we are friends and you just don't want to admit it." Goodness knows his job would be infinitely easier if he could just behave himself and not cause trouble. He had a persona to maintain however, and even though he himself found it bothersome he couldn't break it, not yet. Jocelyn would probably think him schizophrenic or something if he acted himself, which would have some rather nasty repercussions. Chuckling Tora shook his head before cocking it to the side, scrutinizing Jocelyn with a mocking smile. "Torture legal? This state is all weird then. Hm... I can see why some of the people in school are weird then. Probably sadists who get off on that crap." Not expecting the princess to really bite back he was a little surprised when she whirled around and snapped at him, blinking as his smile waned slightly. "If I wanted to deal with it I'd have just gone home, don't you think? I'll have to refuse that offer."

Talk of virgins and kinky sex nearly made Tora burst out laughing. It was amusing hearing the princess of a kingdom speaking like this, it was so unroyal-like of her. Not that she knew what she was, which made it all the more sweeter. One off comment later and Jocelyn had begun to back off, in a manner that actually took him aback for a moment. His smile vanished entirely as he looked at her confused, wondering why she was acting like that. Marking it off as a spur of the moment thing he smiled again, this time a bit more politely as he waved a hand dismissively. "Sheesh, relax will you? You're acting like I'm about to jump you or something," he teased, rolling his eyes. "Jocelyn, if I wanted to do something like that would I really have come to your house to try it? Hellooooo?" Hmph, and he'd thought she was smarter than that. Ah well, at least she was pretty to look at if nothing else. Smirking he stepped back a ways, not taking his eyes off the princess. The sound of Alicia's voice carrying through the house signaled it was supper time, a note that Jocelyn was all too happy to take. "Aw, no pictures?" he asked, grinning as he followed out of the room, "What a bummer."

Yet another uneventful evening had passed, to which Tora wasn't sure if he should lament or be glad. Sure, it meant that Jocelyn was safe, but it also meant he had nothing to do. It had been nearly five months since he'd done any fighting, and it was nigh impossible to train anywhere around here. He did what he could within his meager residence, but that wasn't a whole lot really. Before he or Jocelyn had probably realized it Friday had rolled around, as did the school dance. As if he wasn't clueless enough to the workings of this place a school dance had totally thrown him through a loop. Evidently, overhearing some other students, you were supposed to find a date for the dance. Hm, well there wasn't anyone in particular he could think of, save Jocelyn. She was going with that Tony guy, so that was out of the question. Since you could get in on your own Tora finally decided to do just that, not wanting to waste any time trying to look for a lone girl. For the occasion he had gone out to find something nicer to wear, and had settled on a white, button down long sleeve shirt, black slacks and a black tie. He wore his sneakers which kind of ruined the otherwise preened look, but it was nicer than the other things he wore. A little confused he might be overdressed he was pleased to find other kids had put on nicer clothes as well.

So this was what a school dance was like... Tora couldn't say he'd see himself doing this willingly. Were it not for the fact Jocelyn was in attendance he would have stayed home, or more likely than note staked out her house as he had been. Where the princess went however he would inevitably follow, it was his duty. They weren't on his person, but his sword and other clothing were hidden away, easily accessible should he need them tonight. With so many people around however it seemed unlikely that anything would happen. Even the enemy kingdom refrained from causing havoc in this world, usually. So long as both sides didn't interfere with life here too drastically they could come and go as they pleased, and many often did. Frankly Tora couldn't figure out why, this world had been so boring lately. Well, at least he could probably get a glimpse of Jocelyn in something nice tonight. If it was half as revealing as what some of the girls were wearing tonight he'd be having nice dreams.