A R T H U R

Throughout the next few days, all anybody seemed able to talk about was the upcoming dance on Friday night, but that was the least of Arthur Kane's concerns.

Arthur had volunteered to do research on ethical behavior in modern society for his upcoming Ethics class, and so he had been up all night, practicing his presentation. He had even set his alarm clock for early in the morning, so he could rehearse his speech one last time before having to go down for breakfast.

Although it wasn't the sound of his alarm that woke him up that day. Instead, he was shot awake when he felt someone shaking him by the arm frantically.

"Arthur! Arthur, wake up!"

Groaning to himself sleepily, Arthur lowered the blanket from his head and looked up at the figure standing above him through the fringes of his eyelids. He blinked a few times, trying to retrieve his vision.

"Isaac?" Arthur said through a wide yawn, fighting back the urge to fall back asleep. "What are you waking me up for in the middle of the night? I've already set an alarm clock."

"Your alarm went off an hour ago. And it's definitely not night."

"WHAT!?" Arthur jerked up and reached out for his glasses on the nightstand beside his bed, putting them on with shaky hands. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner!?"

"I tried waking you up twice, but you just cursed me off in French." Isaac knew it was curse words that Arthur had used, because those were the only words Arthur knew in that language. "We had to go to breakfast without you, but I brought you a toast. You really overdid yourself last night. You were up until... what? Four?" Isaac asked, but Arthur had stopped listening long ago.

He was running around the room, changing out of his pajamas as quickly as humanly possible and trying to collect his research papers that laid all over the floor.

"You still have fifteen minutes to get to your class. Relax —"

"Where is page three? WHERE IS PAGE THR — oh, there it is." Arthur sighed in relief when he sighted the paper underneath his bed, and so he bent down to pick it.

As he was standing back up, Arthur's eyes fell on the toast that Isaac had in his hand, and so Arthur snatched it from him, placing the toast between his teeth to hold it there while he put on his coat. He stood in front of the mirror and ran a hand through his red curls, making a helpless attempt to neaten his hair.

With one hand holding onto his papers, he held the toast in his other hand and took a large bite from it, still pacing around the dorm fidgety, as though looking for something.

"What am I forgetting? What am I forgetting?" Arthur kept repeating under his lips, still feeling edgy from the shock.

"Arthur—" Isaac tried to say, but he wasn't paying attention.

"If I had woken up earlier, all of this could've been avoided."

"It's your —"

"I'm sure I'm forgetting something —"

"Arthur!" Having had enough, Isaac exclaimed, finally catching his attention.

"What!?"

"Look down," Isaac said, more calmly this time.

Though confused, Arthur looked down to see what his friend was talking about, only to find himself without trousers.

"Ugh, not again." Arthur huffed out in frustration, running toward his wardrobe to pick out a trouser, wearing it quickly.

"You invent motion detectable cameras, but can't remember to wear clothes?" Isaac chuckled while packing his own bag.

"Getting dressed is a pointless human activity," Arthur said distractedly, going through his papers one last time to make sure they were all in order.

"You know, one of these days I'm going to stop reminding you to wear trousers, and then we'll see if you still think it's pointless."

"No, you won't." Arthur grinned. He knew Isaac's caring heart too well. "Anyway, thanks. I'll see you at lunch." Waving him goodbye, Arthur rushed out of the room.

He ran all the way to the Berrington Hall, only stopping when he reached the third floor. He placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath, panting heavily. He still had six minutes to the start of the lesson, and the classroom was only a few steps away down the hall.

Relieved, Arthur made a move to walk toward his class, but he hadn't even taken the first step when someone grabbed his sleeve, dragging him back. He looked up to see who it was, his jaw jittering.

"Shawn? What do you think you're doing?" Arthur asked helplessly as the boy kept pulling at his sleeve, leading him out of the hallway.

"I need to talk to you," Shawn said briefly as he kept on walking.

"I have a presentation in five minutes! This is kidnapping!" Arthur hissed at him.

"It won't take long, I promise. And no need to be so dramatic." Shawn finally stopped and let go of Arthur's sleeve when they reached a corridor which was empty of any students.

"Well?" Arthur raised a brow at him as Shawn stood in front of him.

Shawn sent him a charming smile. "So... how's my favorite genius feeling today?"

"I'm feeling murderous." Arthur growled, narrowing his eyes at him. "Now tell me what you want, Anderson."

"Okay, okay. I'll get straight to the point, then." Shawn looked behind his shoulder, making sure no one was around to be eavesdropping. "I have an idea for the ceremony tonight, and I want you to help me with it. But it has to stay between the two of us."

"Why me?" Arthur groaned. The excitement in the Shawn's eyes was both suspicious and alarming.

"Because sadly, you're the smartest person I know."

"What's this idea of yours?" Arthur asked with concern.

Shawn's smirk grew wider. "Something that involves Elvis Presley, a few wires, and the risk of getting expelled."

There was a short pause, and then —

"I'm in," Arthur said without hesitation.