Come one, come all.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

She looked around her dorm room. It was cute, quaint, totally not her when she was feeling like a disregarded teddy bear. She reached into her pocket, turned off her mp3 player and stuffed it into her purse.

"Home sweet dorm, I guess," she sighed under her breath. There were two vacant beds and one already occupied. Kandice figured she'd be sharing a dorm room but she expected not only her roommates to be in the room when she arrived but for her to get a shoddy room in general. Surprisingly, she liked the dorm room more than her room back home in Texas.

Kandice closed her eyes and walked, what she thought, was in between the two open beds. Instead, she walked into one of them, opened her eyes and dropped her duffle bag on the bed. Her suitcase was still in the middle of the doorway, the door still wide open.

She ran to close it, then walked over to her bed and stared. After thinking hard to herself for a couple seconds about how good of an idea moving here was, she sat on the laid down on the bed using her duffel bag at the foot as a pillow.

[XIO BECKETT]

“That’s my bed,” Xio called to the stranger in the room. She’d just stepped into her dorm t find that another of her roommates had moved in. she watched the girl’s face for a hint of reaction and grinned before throwing her jacket (technically it was Evan’s) on the bed on the far end. “I’m joking.” She made her way past the girl and the beds to her spot and heaved her giant suitcase onto the bed and prepared herself to put away all of her clothes. She was going to get all of her stuff moved into her drawers today. She didn’t feel like wasting her weekend on doing that crap. “I’m Xio,” she added shyly from her spot. Normally, she wasn’t this outgoing but making new friends at WA and sharing a room with DanI at one point had at least opened her up some.

“I’m guessing you’re new here?” She smiled at the girl. She was pretty sure she’d never seen her before, let alone met her but now was a good time to do so because it appeared they would be sharing a dorm room for the next year. Which wasn’t too bad in Xio’s opinion. Winterthorne’s dorms were freakin huge. There was enough space to not feel like you were going to be living in a corner for the next year and the beds were actually comfortable. Xio preferred Winterthorne to her home in Texas anyday.

Speaking of her lovely family, she wondered how they were doing back home. Probably super great since every time she called home no one ever answered. They were probably to absorbed in their materialistic lives to answer her calls. Or knowing her mother, she was just being rejected purposely. There was no point in even trying. She wasn’t like them, as her mother had so lovingly told her. She was a freak and she needed to be cured and a place like this was better for her than normal society. Gee, thanks mom. The though made Xio throw the shirt she had been folding.

It appeared the girl was either just as shy as she used to be or she already didn’t like her. Either way, she didn’t seem to be responding to Xio’s small talk.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

Kandice wasn't sure how long she'd been staring at the ceiling and lost in thought but as soon as she heard someone's voice, she jumped up and looked around.

"That's my bed." There was a pretty girl standing in front of her grinning as she threw her jacket onto one of the beds beside her. Kandice stared not knowing what kind of a reaction to give. She stared until the girl spoke again. "I'm joking."

She watched her heave her giant suitcase onto her bed. "I'm Xio," she introduced. Kandice smiled but barely enough for her room mate to not notice. "I'm guessing you're new here?"

Kandice stayed quiet, still not knowing what reaction to give. For some strange reason, she couldn't say anything if she wanted to. After what seemed like an eternity, probably only a few seconds, she finally managed to respond.

"Yeah. I'm Kandice but my friends call me Kandy." Kandice stood up, looked at Xio and smiled. The medium side of Kandice can usually sense negative energy right away from people but with her newly acquaintanced room mate, there wasn't a negative atom in the air. She sighed relief and sat back down on the bed she had chosen as hers.

[XIO BECKETT]

Okay, fine. Xio frowned at the wall in front of her and placed another folded shirt in her drawer. If she didn't want to talk, she didn't have to. In fact, she wasn't going to wait for her to. She wasn't annoyed. You would think she would have been but spending so many years ignoring people and not speaking to them had gained her some insight. Some peolpe were just shy like that. If she chose to answer, she chose to answer. And she did. Xio turned to look at the girl, a pair of shorts in her hands.

She smiled at the girl for a second before nodding. "Kandy. That's cute." Fold, fold, fold, stack, stack, stack. Boy, did she suck at small talk. Or conversation in general. "So...." Xio shoved more clothes in the drawer. It was becoming harder and harder and that meant she needed to stop trying to make all of her close fit in one drawer when she had three. The closet would be nice too. "Did you come here by choice or were you sent here?" Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best question to ask. If fact, someone got offended by a question like that. She wasn't trying to be rude, she just didn't know what to say or even if this girl wanted to chat. Maybe she just wanted to lay on her bed silence. Xio could understand, she did it too.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

She does not know how to put clothes in drawers... Should I offer to help or is that rude?, she thought to herself. Once again, Kandice stood up as she watched Xio try to concentrate.

"Did you come here by choice or were you sent here?" Xio winced. Kandy wasn't sure how to take that but shrugged it off.

"I've wanted to come here since 8th grade, actually. My dad just finally agreed to let me come, only he doesn't know about my powers or anything. He thinks that when my hair style isn't 'normal' that I'm doing it to rebel when really, it was just an experiment gone wrong. I'm still getting the hang of the whole shape shifting thing. I've gotten really good at my teleportation though. And me being a medium, well, there's no off and on switch to that so I'm just as surprised as everyone else is when something happens with that."

A short awkward silence filled the room and Kandy sat back down. She probably thinks I'm retarded and can't make up my mind. How many times have I stood up just to sit back down? Crap, I need to stop talking to myself inside my head. They'll chuck me out for having inner monolauges.

[XIO BECKETT]

"That's cool," She mumbled. If she had had a choice, would she have come here? Hmm. She dwelled on the question as she began removing clothes and putting them in another drawer. Posibly? Maybe? At the time she would have said, she was sure of it. Having "powers" was bad enough without having to be sent to a school for it. At least that's how she would have felt then. Now she was pretty sure she would have said yes in a heartbeat. There was no way she would have made it out alive had she stayed at home. Not that they would have let. She wasn't normal. She wasn't like everyone else. And that was coming from mother dearest, not some stranger at school. "I like it here," She told her new roommates. "No one treats you like you're weird." It was really nice. Everyone was just like her. Weird. To everyone else, she was just another girl in the same situation. She had to admit, she had hated it at first. It and everyone in it. She had even gone as far as not leaving her room or talking to other people.

How quickly that had changed. You can't go to Winterthorne and not make friends. Its phyisically impossible. "So, who have you met so far?" She moved from now orderly clothes to fixing up her desk. Chances were, if Kandy had met people around Xio would know them. She wasn't popular in any way but she had met most of the students around. They all got give stars in her book. Geez, she thought as she plugged in her lamp. And I thought I was shy.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

"I like it here. No one treats you like you're weird." Xio finally finished folding her clothes. Kandice laid back down in bed and started staring at the ceiling again. "So, who have you met so far?"

"Well, firstly, nobody really knows I have my powers except my mom knowing about the whole medium thing since it's her side that I got it from. Secondly, you and a girl named Dani. She's pretty cool and her hair is wild. I love it. So, what are the boys like? And how many of them are single?" Kandy closed her eyes in an effort to relax for a few seconds but when she opened them back up, she was in her bedroom in Texas. Oh shit.

Kandy made the effort to close her eyes again but nothing happened. Frustrated, she sighed a long exasperated breath and relaxed her body again. She closed her eyes, counted to three and opened them back up to see Xio staring at her with wide eyes.

"I told you I was working on that..."

[XIO BECKETT]

"Ah," She nodded. "Well that's good." She didn't add to much emotion to the sentence because she didn't know how Kandy felt about her powers. But hey, if her mom knew and didn't hate her, it seemed pretty good so far. She wished she had parents who didn't hate her for what she could do. Or that they didn't know. That would have made growing alot more easier that it had been.

Dani? Xio cracked a smile. "Dani James?" It had to be. Wild hair? Who else? "Yeah. That girl has a way with style." Dani had been her roommate last semester and they has gotten pretty close. Don't let the hair color fool you, Dani was sharp. And she was one of the most ooutgoing people you'd ever meet. She just had something about her that made you want to be her friend. "She was my roommate last year," she explained. "She's cool."

Ahh, the boys. "Welll, first of all you should know that ninety percent of the boys here are gay. Amazing but gay. " Haha. Yeah. unfortunately. She was lucky she'd met Evan. And he was bi! "But, there will probably be a few party's coming up if you wanna go." The kids around here were good for getting down and wild. She had seen everyone drunk at least once, including herself. "We can find you a cute one!"

She glanced over.

"Kandy..." How long had she been talking to herself? "You better be invisble, she mumbled." No. She was probably a teleporter. Or had bullet speed. Or...nevermind. There was no point on name every possibilites, there were too many powers to choose from. "Okay..." She grabbed her phone and sat up and to her surprise, she wasn't alone in her bed when she went to lay back down. "Uhmm...hi?" She burst into laughter. "This isn't going to become a constant problem is it?"

[KANDICE RYLAND]

Kandy started laughing when she realized she was next to Xio. Xio looked slightly confused at first but then shrugged it off. Once Kandice was able to calm down, she got up from Xio's bed and returned to her own.

"I'm so sorry about that," she started to explain. "I honestly was not planning on that. It usually happens when I least expect it to, or least want it to. Actually, it's saved my ass quite a few times but still. I'm working really hard on trying to control it and I think I'm getting closer. Obviously, just now doesn't count."

She grabbed one of her bags and took it to one of the empty dressers. The first thing she took out was her journal. After accessing no damage of her most prized possession, she placed it on top.

"So, what did I miss before I so rudely disappeared?"

[XIO BECKETT]

Oh, gosh. Xio laughed long and happy. That was definitely a power you could have fun. If she was a teleported she’d be all over the place; playing pranks; never having to be to class again. She might even have to appear in Evan’s bed once or twice. She only hoped that she wasn’t going to find her new roommate in her bed every morning. Xio grinning. “As long as I don’t wake up next to you, we’re good.” She didn’t mean it in a mean way, she just wasn’t into awkward situations. Still, it was pretty funny.

“Itsokay,” Xio chuckled. “It happens.” She was reminded of Ezra. He had his power honed down so it was never accidental but she was used to him appearing out of nowhere to scare the hell out of her for his sick enjoyment. “At least you aren’t trying to traumatize me like some people.” Sometimes, she was sure that that boy had serious issues. “I wish I could do something cool like teleport.” All she could do was hurt people.

“Hmm, not much,” Xio shrugged. “A lot of rambling…a lot of boring conversation.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Nothing you haven’t heard before, promise.” She never knew what to say anyway. She sucked at small talk or any kind of talk in general. She was better off texting or writing.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

Kandice sat on her bed with a *thump* and lack of enthusiasm. She sighed and mentally weighed the pros and cons of procastination when it came to unpacking. Either she could do it later and risk getting the lamer of the two dressers left, which they were both the same so it didn't matter, or she could unpack her clothes and get that part over with. Deciding she'd rather do it later than sooner, she pulled out her cell phone from her pocket and started to text her few close friends that she'd made it.

Just got to my dorm. This place is a maze. Not sure about the rules on phones but I'll text when i can, weekends for sure.

"Hey Xio, what's the policy on phones here? Do they wig out and take it away as soon as they see it or do they tell you to put it away in an attempt to pretend like they care?" Kandice's phone vibrated in her hand. It was a text from one of her friends back home.

Too bad you left, there's a party Friday night. Can you come?

"Ugh, of course they throw a party after I've moved," Kandice mumbled out loud to herself.

[XIO BECKETT]

Summer hadn't been the most exciting time for Xio. Not alot had happened and being a whole summer away from Ada had left her with no one to talk to when her family decided to come down on her. They seemed to make it their personal goal to remind her each day when she woke up just how much of a freak she was. A whole summer away from Fletcher had left her bored and with nothing to laugh at. No one was quite as funny compared to Fletcher. A whole summer away from Samson made her feel like a like her big brother had disappeared. He just so happened to be one guy she could lean on in the worst times and have a completely serious conversation with but worst of all, a whole summer without Evan had left her completely insecure and depressed again because she'd hardly heard from him. The only reason she was ever even slightly outgoing towards anyone at Winterthorne was because Evan was usually there to encourage her or at least save her face if she did something stupid. He was the one to make her smile on a crappy day and the one to come help her sleep at three in the morning. Being a country, as well as summer away from her best friends had done nothing to help her. The poor girl felt like she was back at square one all over again.

She lazily looked around their barren room. This was so not going to work for her. Last year DanI, Logan, Monster and she had gone all out decorating the room to make it look great. Easily the coolest dorm at Winterthorne in her opinion. Unfortuanately, DanI was too busy with Adrien these days to decorate. Xio was going to have to just fix up the room herself. Or maybe she didn’t want to, anymore. Decorating her room might remind her too much of Logan and Monster. They hadn’t been best friends but being roommates with the two hadn’t definitely pushed her to be closer with them. Now when she recalled old memories of them, it hurt to fight back tears. Waking up to find out that their roommate had disappeared was the best feeling in the world and neither was going to sleep afraid to die, because the other one had been murdered.

Xio stared up at the ceiling and fought her urge to check her text messages. No one had texted her in the last twenty minutes and it hadn’t rang, so she knew there was nothing new. She turned her head enough to get a side look at Kandy. “Uhh, no one really cares. I mean, obviously, you’re not gonna have your cell phone where everyone can see it but for the most part it won’t matter. Oh, except for Fields. She’ll definitely take it away if she sees it. Oh, and the librarian is not cool with loud ringers.” She shrugged. “Just keep it on vibrate.”

Party.

Xio hadn’t been to one of those in a very long time. It wasn’t her scene to begin with so she was okay with that. “Just teleport to it.”