Heh.  After the first comment of chapter 1, it gave me the urge to put more on.  So, here it is.  My Word had a field day with all the names.
To badlydrawnstickman:  Thank you.  You are the first person to read comment on this without looking at my ratty Harry Potter journal I got six years ago.  Anyway, on to the story.
------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Everyone—Scarlet, Blake, Bradly, Catherine, Devon, Hana, Baine, Ethan, Mourey, Annabeth, and Lumas—entered the rec room half an hour after dinner.

Scarlet stopped. “Whoa. You’re actually reading?”

Jake looked up from his book. It wasn’t that bad, actually. Very action-filled and gory, but that was how he enjoyed his reading time. “Yes. What, did you think I didn’t know how to read?”

“Do you want me to answer that?”

“Hey!” Jake leaped from the loveseat and attempted to curl his fingers around Scarlet’s super-short-boy-cut hair. She had a knack for making people’s hair fit their personality; Alex, her twin, now had hair that spiked out in the back, and Lumas (Jake nearly tripped over his own foot at the thought of his “boyfriend”) now had his hair covering half of his face in an emo hairdo.

After two sprained fingers and a banged knee, both teens sprawled on the floor, laughing, though out of breath.
Jake opened his eyes, and blushed several shades of red as Lumas stood over him, smirking. He held out his hand. “Need some help?”

He took his hand, and was surprised when he found himself immediately lifted to his feet. Jake looked carefully at him. He was about two inches shorter, and one year younger. His skin was almost translucent, and his bony limbs showed no sign of the hidden strength. Jake knew that Lumas rarely at a full meal, and it showed; his ribs showed when he went around shirtless. “Thanks.”

Lumas’s smirk softened to a smile. “You’re welcome.”

Jake looked over his shoulder to see his and Scarlet’s friends grinning at them. “You two lovebirds go ahead; we won’t say anything,” Scarlet and Catherine said in a singsong voice.

Jake and Lumas both blushed, sputtering and choking.

“Uh—”

“We aren’t—”

“Just happened—”

“Taking it slow—”

“Not ready—”

“All right, all right, we get it. You guys are going to be fun to tease,” Scarlet said, catching Catherine’s eye and grinning. Jake felt his face drain of color; knowing that look, he expected all hell to break loose within, oh, about two days at the most. Crap.

Lumas had noticed this, too, and hastily changed the subject. “Hey, how are all of your reports doing?”
Everyone groaned. Though everyone had a different element, they all had to write a ten-page essay on their (current) element.

“Oh, come on; did you have to remind me? I’ve only written seven pages, and I can’t figure out how to make that into ten! It’s water. The stuff you drink and bathe in. How can you write ten pages on that?” Jake was amazed that Scarlet, the star pupil, was having problems. Then again, she had only known about her power over water for six months.

“Would you rather do fire then?” Blake teased.

Her left eye twitched. “Ugh. Fire.”

Lumas chuckled. “Let me help you. I’m sure you could stretch words into phrases and phrases into paragraphs.”

“Thank you! I’ll do your laundry for a week.”

Actually, I was planning to do it for free, but if you insist…”

“Ack! No, I don’t, I take that back!”

“Too late now.”

“Lu-maaas!” Scarlet whined.

“You shouldn’t have made the proposition.”

“Hey, guys?” They both looked at Jake. “Uh, Scarla’s not the only one with problems. And what about your report?”

“Finished. Twelve pages.”

“Could you let me borrow those extra two? ‘Could I’ve got five.”

“I’ve got six.”

“Eight.”

“I just need half a page.”

“Could you help me—”

“All right!” Lumas looked agitated. “I’ll help you with all of yours, one at a time!”

“Thank you Lummy!” The whole group said in unison.

“It’s Lumas,” he hissed under his breath. Louder, he proclaimed: “Not tonight, though. If you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.” He walked off, his boots clacking.

“He’s tired already?” Scarlet felt wide-awake.

“Morning person, unlike you, who likes to stay up ‘til three in the blasted morning!”

“Shut up, Cath. My schedule is perfectly normal.”

“Is not!”

“Whatever.”

These are the people I willingly hang out with, Jake thought with a grimace.


Lumas was in the bed, under the covers, yet he couldn’t sleep. Sure, it usually took him a good hour to fall into a deep sleep, but dammit, it had been three hours already! He blamed Scarlet, mainly because she was so easy to blame, but somewhere is his crowded min he knew he ought to blame Jake.

He felt his brain fall into another giddy, complete-mush-mode. Then adrenaline filled his body as he was reminded of his first date. What should he wear? Casual of formal? He didn’t want to freak him out, but then again, scruffy blue jeans weren’t his style. But he was going to a rather violent movie, not a romance. So, black? Yeah, definitely black.
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All right; another chapter down!  I have a perfect solution to this whole "looking but not commenting" thing!  I will ask a random question about something, and you have to answer.  Okay...um...oh!  I know!
Question:  If you were a snail, what would you suction yourself to and why?
My Answer:  I would stick to this girl named Bryanna so she would scream and yell and be so uncool.
  I got that question from a friend while playing this weird version of truth or dare.