Melly returned to her dorm room, exhausted from having to drag Dante all the way down to the infirmary ward. She laid on her bed, watching the fading sunset filtered through the half-open curtains in her dorm. She began to distinctly wonder where Madisyn was. But before she could even prop herself up on her elbows, the door clicked, signalling that someone was coming in. For a split moment, Melly tensed. But she was then relieved when she saw the familiar blonde hair that belonged to none other than Madisyn James.

"Thank goodness!" Melly breathed, shoulders relaxing from the tension she had felt just moments before. "I was just going to look for you!"

Madisyn shrugged and didn't say anything for a moment. She kicked her shoes off by the door, trudging to her bed. When she sat down, she looked at Melly in the face again with a frown.

"Where were you?"

Melly blinked, confused.

"Huh?"

How could Madisyn not know where she was? She'd said that she would take Dante to the infirmary ward, didn't she? Madisyn rolled her eyes.

"I thought you said that you were going to do cheerleading with us this afternoon after training?"

Melly blinked at her. And then, she remembered. She let out a groan, feeling both frustrated and disappointment. She put her hands in her face, blocking everything out, all while trying to not feel too embarrassed.

"I missed it, didn't I?" Melly asked. Madisyn nodded, eyes unchanging as she continued to stare at her. "I'm sorry! I'd been so concerned about Dante that I'd totally forgotten! Is there another day for me to go down there and try out cheerleading?"

"I'm sure that Coach Bailey wouldn't mind. I'd told her that you might be coming earlier, just so she wouldn't be startled, y'know? Don't feel bad."

Melly smiled tightly. "I feel bad after accidentally bailing out on y'all."

Madisyn shook her head, smiling softly. She then approached Melly and sat down by her side. Melly looked away, still feeling guilty for what had just happened. She didn't flinch when Madisyn put a gentle hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"Don't worry." She paused. "Would you like for me to make it up to you? We can go get dinner in the cafeteria if you want."

Melly smiled, suddenly feeling a little better with that proclamation. Her tensed shoulders relaxed.

"That would be nice."

Madisyn extended a hand out for Melly to take, a smile on her face. "C'mon. Let's go before the lines get full."

Melly smiled in return; sometimes, Madisyn's smiles were contagious, even if they'd only known each other for less than twenty-four hours. She let Madisyn lead her out of the dorm room, but not before he grabbed her dorm room keys so that they wouldn't be locked out of their dorm room later. They eventually made their way down towards the cafeteria.

By the time they had reached the line for Whataburger, it was nearly six o'clock, much to Melly's relief. Their curfew wasn't until nine o'clock, so they still had plenty of time to chill out and eat before making their way back in time for curfew so that they wouldn't get caught by the vampires that prowled around the streets at night.

As they waited in line, chattering animatedly to each other, Melly did not realize that someone else had come up to them until they tapped her on the shoulder. She squealed and gasped before whipping around. She glared, furious, when she saw that it was only Josh Nolan.

"Geez," she scoffed, rolling her eyes in irritation. "Let me know before you scare me like that, Josh!"

Josh smiled apologetically at her, though his eyes still held the same mischief that reminded Melly so much of her brother. She ignored the pained skip in her heartbeat when she gazed at him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten ya. Just thought I'd stop by and say thank you for bringing Dante back to his dorm room, by the way. You were a lifesaver for him."

Madisyn stared at Melly, surprised. But not nearly as surprised as Melly had felt on her own. She managed to recover and gave Josh a warm, reassuring smile.

"Not at all! I was happy to do it. He was probably more comfortable around me than anyone else. Nurse Jo helped to situate him out."

Josh nodded, looking satisfied. "I thought she would."

Melly was alarmed by this reaction from Josh. She raised an eyebrow at him, a frown on her face.

"Er — has Dante been in situations like this before?" She asked as Madisyn tugged her at the elbow to let her know that the line was moving again.

"Unfortunately, yes. Apparently, he has a bad reputation with the class."

Melly glared, her eyes widening. She put her hands on her hips.

"But that's not fair! He's normal — just like the rest of us here!"

"That's what you think," Josh muttered under his breath. He suddenly avoids her gaze, as though he was afraid of her reaction. She only blinked at him, confused.

"What?"

Josh's eyes flickered towards her again, throwing her a pleading look.

"Look . . . . Dante might not have the best attitude towards others —"

"He definitely doesn't," Melly muttered under her breath in agreement. Josh glared, scowling at her.

"Will you let me explain? Please?"

Melly blushed, realizing that she had gone too far. "Sorry. Got ahead of myself. Go on."

Josh relaxed, though he continued to give Melly another suspicious glance. It was as though he had half-expected her to interrupt again. But she was determined this time. She held her head high and crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest. Josh sighed again, knowing that she wasn't going to give in this time.

"Dante didn't have the best past. After . . . . everything that had happened to him, he'd become cold and distant. And —"

"Because his family, except for his sister, abandoned him," Melly finished before she could stop herself. She cursed silently in her head, kicking herself mentally. She wished that she hadn't said anything; it would make Josh suspicious. To her surprise, he looked more alarmed rather than suspicious than she had originally thought.

"How — How did you know?" he spluttered in shock.

Melly bit her lower lip, unsure of how to respond. She finally realized that she had no choice but to give him the truth. She took a deep breath and began to explain herself, trying to not rush through as she spoke.

"Sl — I mean — somebody told me."

Josh frowned. "That doesn't sound right."

Melly cringed upon hearing that. Her heart pounded, wondering how she could tell Josh without having to actually confess that she had seen his past without the boy's consent. She began to open her mouth again when Josh looked her firmly in the eye. A tingle ran down her spine as he gazed at her, hard.

"Melly, believe it or not, I've seen some of the weirdest forms of magic during my time here at Avalon. You can trust me."

And the problem was, Melly did trust Josh. She'd barely known him for twenty-four hours, yet here she was, preparing to give this stranger a valuable piece of her own information.

"I saw what happened to him when he was young," she finally blurted out, a little too loudly. This caused several heads to turn in her direction. She gave everyone a hard glare before they uncomfortably turned back to their friends and whatnot. She waited until everyone was busy again before she turned to Josh's gaze, which was now filled with genuine curiosity.

"You saw his past? How?"

Melly sighed, blushing furiously. She ran her fingers through her hair and she vaguely wondered to herself how she was going to explain all this to a boy she barely knew. But Josh seemed sincere and genuine enough.

"Don't tell Dante, because I know what his reaction is going to be like if anyone tells him, but a ghost girl gave me his onyx signet ring. I closed my eyes and examined his past. That's how I was able to know why he behaved the way he did."

Josh's face paled, as Melly had expected. She found herself cringing, regretting every decision she had made. But at the same time, it felt good to get those emotions that had been bottled up inside her out.

"He's not gonna be happy if he finds out about this," Josh muttered, seemingly to himself. Melly glared, her hands on her hips.

"Well, if you don't tell him anything, then we won't have a problem. I'll let him discover it on his own."

"He's not gonna like that either, if he knows that you already figured him out."

"That's not the point. I want to keep things neutral between the two of us for as long as we can."

Josh nodded, seeming to understand.

"I get that. Sometimes it's difficult for Dante to handle certain news well."

Melly raised a surprised eyebrow.

"So you believe what I told you?"

Josh chuckled softly, his eyes raking her body. Melly felt a shiver run down her spine and goosebumps appeared on her arms. He leaned surprisingly closer towards her, though not enough to make her uncomfortable, just startled. She was relieved, though, when he did not touch her in any way that made her feel uneasy.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Melly? I've seen some weird stuff here in Avalon. Those powers of yours are no different. Rare, yes. But not different."

"Well, thank you for understanding, Josh."

Melly was grateful for Josh's attentiveness towards her. He had seemed genuinely curious when she had told him of her powers. She hoped that he would keep his word and not tell Dante anything about their conversation — or lack of better words, Melly's knowledge of his past. Before Melly and Madisyn were about to order, she turned to face Josh before he left.

"Hey, can I ask you a favor?"

Josh turned to face her, a look of surprise on his face. But it quickly passed and he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Sure! Depending on what it is, though."

"I'm sure that you'll accept once you hear my favor," Melly answered cooly, much to Josh's surprise. His eyes were on her as he waited patiently for her request. "Can you please not tell Dante anything about our conversation? I know that he will be horrified if he found out that I already knew about his past. I won't say anything to him until the right moment. But for now, I want to keep this quiet between the two of us. Please?"

Josh smiled reassuringly at her. This made Melly relax. She hardly knew Josh, but she trusted him with her secrets — especially if they were about Dante.

"You have my word, Melly. And trust me, I've seen more weird things at Avalon than I can remember."

Without another word, he winked at her before departing, a tray of food in his hands. Melly stared after him, relief coursing through her body after an afternoon of unending tension. She hadn't realized that she had stood still, her eyes on where Josh had been moments before, when Madisyn had called her over, causing her to jump.

"Hey, Melly! Do you know what you want for dinner? My treat — I'm paying for it. Don't bother."

Melly smiled tightly before walking over towards the cafeteria counter. The woman who had taken Madisyn's order eyed Melly dubiously. It made Melly squirm uncomfortably, silently.

Melly quickly gave the lady her order, her mind still on the conversation she just had with Josh. Her mind whirled as she spoke. When they had both finished giving the lady their orders, Madisyn dragged Melly away by the elbow until they were at the first seat that they saw. When both girls sat down, Madisyn immediately spoke up, her voice full of curiosity.

"What did Josh want to talk to you about?"

Melly gave her a look of surprise. "You didn't hear our conversation?"

"No, I was too busy waiting in line for my food before giving my order to the lady."

Melly sighed, her eyes trailing towards the Whataburger counter where the same lady continued to take orders from other students at Avalon.

"He just wanted to thank me for taking care of Dante after this afternoon's incident," she finally admitted, still not having the guts to face Madisyn. She still felt too embarrassed. She bit her lower lip, eyes straying to the floor. It was as though she had found it interesting all of a sudden. To her surprise, Madisyn sounded positive, seeming to approve of Josh's actions.

"Josh is very good about thanking people if they do something that seems important to him." She squinted at Melly, hard, a frown on her face. "I suppose you did just that."

"I guess so," Melly hummed in return. Her eyes flickered towards the Whataburger counter again. She watched as a waitress brought a tray to the counter before calling out their order number. Madisyn shot to her feet and almost danced, her steps too light and graceful for an average person, as she made her way over towards the countertops to retrieve their tray of food. She then handed Melly what she had ordered before getting her own paper bag. They then headed out the door to head back to their dorm room.

Melly still had the conversation between her and Josh still replaying in her head as they continued to walk around the stunning campus of Avalon. The sun was setting again, declaring that it was about Golden Hour. A soft haze of golden light blanketed itself around the campus without being too bright or too startling. Just soft enough for everyone to see their surroundings.

There must be at least a couple of hours left before curfew, Melly thought to herself in amusement as they approached the dorm building. And good thing, too. Because Melly knew that she didn't have any plans to go anywhere else when curfew hit. She planned to stay indoors and do something to entertain herself before she went to sleep.

The smell of Whataburger filled Melly's nostrils as she and Madisyn got themselves situated on their beds. Madisyn got herself comfortable at once, sticking her arm right into the paper bag to pull out a Patty Melt, fries, and ketchup.

"What do you wanna watch?" Madisyn asked as she turned the TV on with her free hand. Melly gave her a look of surprise, staring at her as she began to dig into her own dinner.

"You're letting me choose?" She asked, full of disbelief. Despite knowing Madisyn for less than twenty-four hours, Madisyn had always given Melly the impression that she was the boss — the more firm one.

"Yeah? Tonight's my treat, remember?"

"Right," Melly muttered under her breath. But she wasn't complaining about it. In fact, she rather enjoyed being the one to choose the TV show. She spoke of the first TV show she thought of that she watched at home all the time.

"Friends."

Madisyn looked surprised.

"Friends? Really?"

Melly gave her a look. "What's wrong with Friends?"

"Nothing," Madisyn answered hastily. A pink dusting covered her tan cheeks. "It's just that . . . . I've never been the biggest fan of 90s sitcoms."

"C'mon," Melly urged. "Give it a chance. You might like it. It's more hilarious than you might think."

Madisyn looked doubtful, her bright brown eyes glaring at the screen, her lips turned into a frown. She reluctantly agreed.

"Well . . . . alright. If you say so."

The Friends intro came on and Melly relaxed into her queen-sized bed, ready to enjoy her night watching TV with Madisyn before they went to sleep.