The day passed by much smoother than she anticipated, and exactly as Zain illustrated in the forest. They attended all the classes together, and were officially assigned as partners in-class. The morning classes were all mainly introductions of each student, going to some class activities, reviewing the syllabus for the term, and taking notes of what was explained. She didn't enjoy much of the classes, but found an interest in Physics and Biology classes. There was no sign of the Headmistress, which left Zoya a bit guarded but calm.

Zain led her to a grand room where tables were spread neatly. Zoya could smell the food before she entered the ball, and it was magnificent. Her nose picked up various scents from sweet to sour to spicy food. Once she stepped into the grand room, she mesmerized how lively and colorful it was. It was more colorful to her white classrooms. They were variations of colors and shades ranging from red to blue and sprinkles of purple and yellows. It had grand windows that reached the roof, and honed so much light that if Zoya wasn't used to training outdoors she couldn't have been blinded by its intensity. Interestingly; however, there was no heat. The room was cool, and had natural wind from the open windows. It was fresh and soothing. It felt right.

The more Zoya discovered parts of the school, the more she realized it was the best choice she had taken. The food reminded Zoya that she hadn't had breakfast that morning and her stomach chirped in hunger. She was ready to have a feast. Before she was about to leave Zain to find the nearest table, he interrupted her famished thoughts.

"Eh, Zoya? Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going there to eat, of course," she replied pointing at the nearest empty table on the right-wing of the room.

"You're going to have lunch, alone?"

"Yes, I always have lunch in my room. I'm not much of a people's person when I eat," she answered innocently.

He smiled at her confusion, and pointed at a table on the far left-wing of the room. It was near a tall window, where it overlooked the forest. There were four students already occupying the space, and whispering something like it was the most important topic of their lifetime.

"See them?" he said, "those are my pals. Why not come join us?"

She looked from them to him and snickered.

"Like I said, I'm not much of a people's person," she refused and sat at the table she originally chose.

She was clumsily sat on the bench, and placed as much food as possible on her plate to start her delicious hot meal.

Zain stood there surprised by her reaction, but decided to surprise her and followed. With half a chicken-wing in her mouth and the another held in her other hand, she studied him as he sat on her table.

"What are you here for?" she muffled, her mouth too full to pronounce the words properly.

He laughed at her, "I'm here to eat of course. Or is it just you who hasn't eaten all day?"

She shrugged too busy to care, and continued to gracefully devour her meal.

It was the best meal of her life. She felt so warm and quite drowsy after the meal. The cafe ladies placed drinks after lunch was done, and placed desert, fizzy drinks and fresh juices. Zoya could never let the servants have that much variety in her home. Her father was too conservative when it came to the quantity of food made per week.

Four student walked towards the table where she and Zain continued to devour their deserts, and interrupted their mouth-watering session.

"Zain? Why are you sitting here alone?" asked one of the girls eyeing me then Zain in confusion.

"I'm not alone, I'm here with Zoya," he replied.

"Well, we waited for you," she talked sharply. Zoya winced.

"My bad you guys. Zoya is new here and I thought she might need a friend to sit with."

"It's okay buddy, no worries," a boy replied.

The girl shook her head and crossed her arms in disapproval.

"Zoya," Zain looked at her with purpose to avoid the arising conversation between him and that girl.

"This is Memphis," he pointed at the boy who slightly nodded, "and this is Nora," he pointed at the girl who was still crossing her arms, "and this is Nadeen, my younger sister."

Nadeen hugged Zoya, who sat not-knowing how to react and sat there in silence.

"Pleasure to meet you Zoya! I was very excited when I heard Zain finally found a roommate!" she giggled.

"Thanks," Zoya said with a small smile.

"Tell me are you able to sleep with all that snoring?" she asked with a friendly smile and welcoming eyes.

That is when Zoya saw the resemblance. Though Nadeen was much more handsome and her body was entirely different, yet their features had so much similarities one may think they are twins. When Nadeen hugged her, Zoya realized she didn't have her brother's scent.

"Your scent, it's...different," Zoya said looking at Zain.

Zain subtly shook his head in warning.

"Oh thank you! It's my new Victoria Secret perfume. Thank you for noticing, unlike others," she eyed Nora, who rolled her eyes in reply.

Zain mouthed, "I'll explain later," before he kept apologizing to Nora for not sitting with them.

She gave small smiles here and there, but continued to finish her dessert to leave the table quickly. Zoya was uncomfortable with the whole situation. She didn't scent any other mythical creature besides Zain, which threw her off. She was confused as to how Nadeen, his younger sister, shared the same blood but not the same mystical powers? She must be a Hybrid or a Mornia, those who lack mystical powers, but that is almost unheard of.

Zoya finished her food and was about to leave when she saw the boy, Memphis, hop on the desk and started talking to one of the girls, Nadeen.

"Have you seen the new theory?" Zoya caught him saying.

"Yeah, it was mind-blowing! Imagine if we can implement it in our final project!"

"That could change all that we know about science! If it were true, then we could discover most of the mystical legends," he smiled very brightly, his somewhat baby-face reddened and accentuated his very red-pimples feature.

"What theory?" Zoya asked unintentionally as she was halfway standing.

Nadeen and Memphis bent down and began to speak inaudibly for their surrounding peers.

"The theory of the Mystical Beings. It is believed that a mad scientist–"

"Emphasis on the mad," Nadeen interrupted and snickered.

Memphis rolled his eyes and continued despite the interruption of his dramatic entry.

"It is believed that a mad scientist was capable of finding a device, created by a powerful Ancient Egyptian Priest," he continued.

"And Priests, at that time, were considered even more powerful than the Pharaohs themselves," Zain chimed in, "If you had the approval and support of a Priest, then it meant that you were supported by the Ancient Gods themselves."

"Excuse me, can I continue my story at peace please," Memphis eyes Zain and Nadeen.

Zain and Nadeen shared a momentarily look and smirked at Memphis mischievously which made him shift uncomfortably on the table. Apparently, that was a strategy because Memphis sweat heavily and soaked his t-shirt.

"Guys, stop! You are making me blush!"

Zoya smiled for the first time in that sitting, and wanted to see what happens next. So she sat comfortably again on the shared bench, and watched.

"You blush a lot anyways, Memphis," Nora hopped in and added the same mischievous smirk.

"Yes, I blush a lot! Now leave me alone," he stood on the benches, "I'm done interacting for the day," he announced and sat grumpily at the bench, his face getting redder than before.

"Memphis?" Zoya started smoothly, "I would like to know what happened next after he found that Device?"

Memphis closed his eyes, loosened his knotted arms and looked at Zoya with excitement.

"As I was saying," he eyed the trio.

"The device was never found. At least, that was documented in research articles. However," he leaned forward and a glint of madness appeared in his dark eyes, "According to his memoir, the device was found by Alexander the Great himsel, but he couldn't trust any of hid advisors nor children, so hid in one of the Valley of King's tombs. Alexander the Great didn't mention who the tomb belonged to, but it was mentioned that the tomb had a WAS scepter on it. Before he left Egypt to expand his Empire, he went back to retrieve the device. But when he came to retrieve it, he couldn't find it. The scientist wrote that Alexander the Great had forgotten which tomb he left it in, and was lost for ages. Despite many attempts to reclaim the lost device, many expeditions failed and more disappeared from existence. Whipped out," Memphis paused waiting for the curiosity to kick in.

"Then who found it?" Nora asked as the suspense overpowered any of the groups' awkwardness.

Memphis glint of madness widened, and the group was looking at the next influntial-storyteller. Probably better than the author of this book.

"Well," he eyed Nadeen, who smiled back in approval, "Nadeen and I have found the location of the scientist's life work journals. He encrypted his journal's location, in which he theorizes the tomb the device lies, and where he found and hid it himeself."

"And we confirmed the theory with Professor McGuire. He agreed to propose an fully-sponsored expedition to the Board of Trustees, and in return we propose our findings are our final submission papers," Memphasis added.

"Which means..." Zoya analyzed.

"Technically, we will be the first to find it," Nadeen concluded.

Zoya saw the madness in Nadeen's eyes, similar to that of Memphis, and she knew the pair are destined to be something great, together. The way the shared an intense eye-contact, comfirmed Zoya's suspicion because Memphis didn't blush.

The story sounded familiar for a moments, a story very similar to what Zoya's grandparents used to tell her. So she had to ask, to eliminate the possibility of being it the same journal she was looking for.

"Memphis, who is this scientist?" She dared him to speak.

Nadeen and Memphis shared a moment, and looked back at Zoya with intention.

"He's the one an only Dr. Roberto Fernando," Nadeen said slowly, not willing to hide her uncertainity.

Zoya froze, consumed by her twirling thought of the possibility that the stolen Fernando book, remains to exists.

"Impossible. That book is a myth," Zain broke Zoya's thoughts.

"Ancient Gods? Who give out devices to eradicate paranormal beings? There's no such thing," Nora ridiculed each of the mad pair.

She took a grape and aimed it at her mouth, before she dominated Zain's back with a bear hug.

"Yes, a myth," Zoya repeated Zain absent-minded.

Her eyes wandered from Zain and Nora, to Nadeen and Memphis. Not knowing whom to believe. Could it be, the story that her grandfather repeated endlessly every night, was true? Could that be the diary Zoya's lawyer didn't get right? Zoya hated her ignorance of that matter, and her reliance to wait on two untrained students to find the most powerful mystical object in the history of mystical beings.

"I want to join," she said eagerly.

She stood up and her physique dominated the table.

Memphis made himself small, affected by her dominance before he spoke, "I-I'm sorry Zoya. But its our group project, and its only approved for Nadeen and I."

"But I want in!" She demanded.

Her voice echoed throughout the hallways, and taught the attention of her surrounding peers.

"Zoya, careful," Zain low-key growled.

"We can think of a project idea, similar to Memphis and Nadeen's," he calmly proposed.

Brown met green, with power and calmness.

"You're right, we can choose," Zoya replied awfully calm, which sent chills to Memphis.

The Bell rang, and it was time for the remainder of the sessions to start. Classes may seem overwhelming, but Zoya felt she could survive most of them. She was most particularly excited for P.E. and the Extracurricular activities. If there were a few things Zoya might have enjoyed besides eradicating werewolves from the face of the Earth, it was physical activities and science projects. Zoya shared P.E. with Zain, and they stood up in opposite teams, much to Zoya's delight. The session was divided into two parts: a 30-min fitness training and an 1-hr and a half, self-defense training.

Had Zoya known it was a regular school for humans like herself, she would have believed it was designed to accommodate mystical beings. The training intensity was similar to that of her grandpa's. Memories threatened to occupy her fresh mourning mind, but she reminded herself with rule number 18: Never mourn the dead when in training.

"Alright class," started a young foreign man.

The Students were already puffing out air and were trying to watch whatever breath their peers failed to catch. Zoya was annoyed than Zain didn't break a sweat, and more sympathy by how primitive training her peers have received. Hunters and Huntresses like herself would train at least five hours a day before they called it quits. Sometimes Zoya forgets that humans don't hone extraordinary skill sets. She stood panting, and her checks warm but stood tall regardless as she was nowhere near exhausted. She was ready for the real-training to begin, but much to her disappointment she learned that was the end of her session.

"Now that we finished today's session, let me properly introduce myself. I'm Professor Bakon," whispers broke amongst the peers as they recognized this Holy name of the famous and

"Silence!" he shouted sternly which led the room to fell silent while only the breath of students remained loud.

Professor Bakon continued, "as we have witnessed I will be teaching you Mixed Martial Arts, also known as MMA, and resilient activities. My program is designed to surprise you, push you, and make you bend in many ways you never thought possible," he looked intensely at each student.

Zoya smiled and was excited to see more of Professor Bakon, though the name was not familiar as it was to her peers. He definitely wasn't a Hunter, that is why she may not have heard about him prior to this session.

Professor Bakon saluted his class, and they honored his salute before they earned their dismal. Everyone hurriedly left the gym room, leaving nothing but the sunset rays kissing the wooden floors and their sweats behind. Zoya stayed the last.

"Professor Bakon?" She approached him.

He was packing his bag and didn't turn around to face her.

"I loved today's session, and wanted to know if there are extra credits for me to train more?" She continued without waiting for his response.

"Extra credits? On your first day? That's unheard of," he turned around facing Zoya for the first time, taking in her features properly.

"Ah I heard of you," he smiled.

"You are Miss Fernando, am I correct?" He inquired, already expecting the answer to his questions.

Zoya nodded hesitantly, and Professor Bakon laughed admirably at her.

"Ah I see. The Headmistress sure was right. She said many...peculiar things about you, Miss Fernando. We both expected you to request extra training on your first day, but I must admit I had bets that I would exhaust any desires of sort in your first week," he smiled.

"She did?" Zoya was taken aback by such information bestowed on her lap.

"Indeed. And The Headmistress is never wrong," he continued.

Professor Bakon stood in front of her, crossed his arms and analyzed her physique objectively.

"What was your longest hour to train?" He started, his smile fading and was replaced by his stern poker face.

"Five hours. My grandpa would have helped me make it into six hours, but he passed away recently," she replied indifferently.

"Five hours, you say? It seems your grandfather invested highly on your training. Tell me, do you play any sports?"

"Yes. I'm good with knives, swords and I'm quite decent with Archery. I also know three types of martial arts," she continued confidently.

Zoya was eager to impress Professor Bakon for any form of extra credit. She knew that if academics failed her, then her best shot at fulfilling her father's promise was to make use of her talents. So she waited impatiently for his reply.

"I see," was all he said before he continued to gather his belongings and was ready to depart to the cool fresh air.

"Tomorrow at 4.00 am, here at the Gym. I'm sure I can manage an official approval from the Headmistress. Unless you wish to back down?" He inquired one last time to tease her determination.

"None in the slightest," was what he heard and what he needed.

"Excellent. Tomorrow I'll give you details about the extra credits, for now I suggest you get out of this stinky place and meet your peers and enjoy the rest of the afternoon," he nodded before he walked away.

Zoya broke into a smile and danced goofily around as none watched her. It was her first successful milestone on her first day, and she couldn't have been more proud. All that was left was to convince Zain on working with Memphis and Nadeen to find that device.

"That's the first to see you similing like this, careful now I may get used to it," Zain talked.

Zoya's happiness was short-lived when she smelled the werewolf walk into the room unannounced. He was still wearing his P.E. Uniform, and his scent doubled as it was mixed of dog and sweat.

"What are you doing here?" She didn't conceal her annoyance.

"Oh please, no need to show your admiration that passionately," he mocked.

Zoya clenched her hands, stomped her left foot, and her bared her teeth at Zain, unconsciously. Zoya's reaction when she was annoyed was something Zain was yet to learn. But he giggled anyways at imperfect human in front of him. May they be enemies, but he his eyes won't allow to see her as a threat but only an opportunity for a friendship.

"Besides, I thought you might get lost so I decided to wait for you," he replied honestly.

"I don't," she lied.

"Do you know where is it then?" He approached her, his hands in his pockets. Something Zain seems to be doing constantly, Zoya observed.

"Eh?" She quickly scanned the room, and she pointed at the nearest fire exit.

"Aha! Yes I came from here!" She remembered.

Zain cracked so hard, his stomach crunched inside and his muscles spammed.

"Ow!" He said playfully when Zoya threw a shoe at him.

"That exit is where you got lost in the first place and made you come 3 mins late, Miss Zoya," he explained so smoothly like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Zoya snarled and attempted to run at him. She leaped, he dodged everytime. It took her a couple of attempts before she successfully leaped on him and they fell on top of each other.

Zain was still laughing, unable to conceal the humor of such a situation, and Zoya's annoyance increased. But she felt something else, something unidentifiable but it was nice to feel, a mixture of warmth and relief perhaps.

It was the first time Zoya acted her age, without expectations, without overworking herself to her successes. It was the first time Zoya was free of her father's disappointment and her grandpa's mystery death that was lingering at the back of her memory. And that feeling was nice, and so Zoya smiled.

Zain's smile widened and they shared a moment. Green eyes met brown, and they weren't threatened by either's existence.

Zoya realized what was happening and she reminded herself to smell his scent. That was enough to turn off any emotion and hatred grew back into her brown eyes. Still clenching her arms, Zoya struggled before Zain released her in confusion. She toppled and threw herself on the cool wooden floor, stood up and crossed her arms. Zain moved in a sitting position after his sweaty back kissed the cool floor.

"I'm—" he beg and but Zoya cut him off quite sharply.

"Show me where the girls locker room is, and I'll take it from there," she ordered him.

Zoya could see under her eyes lashes how expressionaless Zain was, but decided to ignore him. He was a werewolf after all, and that Rule number 3: was Never forget who you're enemy really are. No matter how goof-looking, or how kind they may seem. It was all a lie. Means of deception to make you weak and to easily capture our [hunters] own kind.

Zain stood up effortlessly despite his physique which was something that continued to surprise Zoya internally.

"Sure, I'll wait for you to finish and go to gardens where all the Extracurriculars are doing there orientation," he proposed.

Zoya hummed and moved without looking back, maintaining a well-calculated distance between them. Zain silently led the way, his cheerful smile and friendly eyes fading away.

They went to several hallways, took three lefts then a right and finally reached their destination. Although it was a short journey, each hallway has its own design, set of colors, and perhaps a personality. The place was designed to make one feel like home, or make them feel this was their home. There were huge windows at each corner of the school and light was sufficient for any sun-lovers to accommodate their long stays within the building. The design was perfect, and it felt like it was especially made for Zoya. The more she saw light, the more free she felt and reminded her of the greenhouse back home. There were interesting in-between spaces that

"We are here, left is ladies', right is the men's," Zain told her as they reached the Locker's lobby.

It was a midpoint where it led to two-closed spaces. Zain went to the right without uttering another word, and Zoya left without any regard of what her shenanigans may have caused his unusual expression. Alas, Zoya was back to her old selfish and demanding ways. Whatever moment they shared, it was utter nonsense and was not to be spoken of Zoya concluded. She was looking for the familiar in the unknown and her wonder hit Zain by mistake. Zain's friendly eyes were too welcoming for her. She was confused and irritated by how a werewolf could be so reckless. She could have captured him or taken his wold powers by any means, and he was utterly off-guard. He broke all traditions between humanity and mystical beings. It was simply unheard of, and frankly out of Zoya's comfort zone which caused her to despite Zain a little more.

She entered the hot shower, and all her swirling thoughts and incomprehensible analysis of the unknown faded away. She played her shower playlist on her iwatch, and washed all her worries away. Fifteen minutes later, Zoya was clean and dressed and ready to meet new peers and see what Extracurricular activities were available. She left the lockers room only to find Zain waiting at the lobby, leaning towards a wall and playing on his phone. Zoya may have felt awkward approaching him, but her pride demanded her to do so despite her feelings.

"Ehm."

That was enough to catch Zain's attention, which annoyed her because she knew he already scented her coming.

He looked up and his cheerful self was back. He took Zoya in, and his smile widened.

"It seems a nice shower did the trick," he winked.

Ignoring warmth on cheeks and deciding it was because of the hot shower she took earlier, Zoya marched towards Zain and pointed at his nose.

"Excuse me?"

The face he made while looking at her finger that touched his nose made Zoya smile so faintly before she composed herself.

"A good shower always lifts a gloomy mood, my mother would always say. And she is always right," he waved at Zoya.

"I- well yes, I do feel better. But that doesn't mean it's because your mother said something!" She shouted, which echoed in the very acoustic lobby.

Zain chuckled at Zoya. "You look good for a Hunter," he whispered.

"Uh, and what do you expect hunters to look like? Besides I'm a huntress, you know a female hunter," she explained before she rolled her eyes at him in dismay.

"One, I know what a huntress is," he fingered. "And two, well usually we hear bedtime stories of old-men with swords trying to 'capture dadi-blah-blah' but I'm sure I never heard about huntress before," he looked at Zoya holding two fingers indicating the statements he announced.

Zoya punched him in the stomach, which he clenched.

"What was that for!" He looked at her with an eye still open.

"One," she fingered, "being a hunter or a huntress doesn't mean we need to be old. That's just a lame stereotype."

She punched him in his arm before she continued, "and two, there are many huntresses out there who are leaders of many organizations. And by the way, they aren't old nor holding swords. Which century are you living in? The 6th Century?" She asked.

Zain grunted in reply and he rubbed his now-throbbing arm.

"Wow, you really have some personality inside your small physique."

"Woo hey!" Zain said as Zoya was preparing another punch aiming at his chest.

He deflected the last punch without breaking eye-contact on Zoya. That is when she realized, he let her hit him.

"You! Ugh! Pirate, non-good of a thingie dorm! Why partners!" Was all Zoya could say and her punches were deflected, and Zain's smile widened at her incomprehensible words.

"Pirate? Now that would be interesting. A pirate werewolf, should be a fun aspiration if I ever fail to join Harvard Med School," he teased.

Zoya stopped the punches as she knew it was obeselte to waste her effort on a human-dog.

"Well now that we are settled, we have to go before we miss orientation. I hear there are some great activities this year," clapped his hands in excitement.

"Hmph," was her response before she let him lead the way.

The sun was yet to set. [check the sunset hours in Fall season in Switzerland] The sky was filled with many colors, ranging from blue to many shades of purple. It was a warm day considering it was Fall, but Zoya loved every scenery that threw itself in her way. The outdoor area was filled with popcorn and candy in celebration for a new academic year. Students were lined up in their corresponding booths. There must have been more than twenty booths, because they filled the garden. The booths came in different colors and themes, but had the same dimensions. There were three designated spaces: special, sports, and growth activities. Each of the three spaces accommodated a number of booths. Zoya was instantly drawn to the sports activities.

Each booth tried to persuade her to sign up and join their sports team. There was: rugby, track and field, tennis, martial arts, much more. Zoya went for the martial arts, and Archery.

Then she went to the special activities where she accompanied Zain as he explained the various options. There were dance class: tango, salsa and tap dance; cooking activities, which Zoya dismissed hurriedly and Zain signed up for; film and theatre activities, and expeditionary activities.

"What's that?" Zoya asked eagerly, devouring her candy cane.

"Hey there! Welcome," a student at the booth started, "We are the Expeditionary club. We get to have three expeditions throughout the year, and a final project of a discovery we made. Perks? That you get unlimited passes outside of campus, but only one one condition: you have to show the results of your findings on a weekly basis. Best team that wins in our annual competition gets the opportunity to be eligible for our International Annual Conference! Where you present your findings to seventy-six country officials!" Explained the girl.

"Wow," Zoya was awestruck and Zain was speechless.

A ticket to get out of school, authorized? That would be a great opportunity for Zoya to find the Fernando journal before Memphis and Nadeen.

"Where do I sign?" Zoya said without further thought.

"Here is the QR code, you will find the form and we will do an interview or see your experience and eligibility. However, you must have at least one partner to get approved as an applicant," said the girl at the booth with an excited smile.

Zoya looked at Zain and smiled mischievously.

"No way! I already have cooking activities!" Zain protested.

"Oh come on! You would leave exploring the hidden treasures of the world for a cooking competition?" She tried to reason.

"Yes, that's how much I love cooking," Zain insisted.

"Fine, you can do both! But pretty please will you be my partner? I need this!" She used her puppy eyes, and Zain gave in.

"Fine," he mumbled.

"Yay! I have a partner, where can I find the QR code?" Zoya asked.

"Here is the brochure! Have a lovely evening and we can't wait to have you in our team!" Said the girl enthusiastically.

Zoya took it and continued to explore the rest of the booths but her heart was content. They met Memphis, Nadeen and Nora along the way. Zoya sat much more comfortably with the trio than she had during lunch time. She loved interacting with humans, like herself, it reminded her how important her gift to be a huntress was to her to keep her family's legacy breathing.

"So how was your first day?" Asked Nadeen.

"It was fine," Zoya replied, "I'm not much of a class person, but I did enjoy P.E. and Math.

"Ugh, I hate Math," Nadeen made a dramatic face to prove her point.

"Nadeen you hate anything that isn't art," Zain replied.

"Hey, I'm an Artistic person," she said, pushing her curly hair back.

"Artistic my-ass" snorted Nora.

"Hey! PG-13!" Nadeen yelled.

"Did you find an activity to your liking, Zoya?" Memphis asked.

"Yes! Guess who got in the Expeditionary Club!" She replied excitedly.

"My eyes! She's smiling!" Nadeen announced.

"Haha! I do smile, you guys!" Zoya blushed in embarrassment.

"Well who's your partner?" Nadeen and Memphis inquired in unison.

"Well, that would be me," Zain said shyly, much out of his character.

"You did what?" Nora growled.

Zain winced, "Whoops."

Nora looked at Zoya as though she was about to punch her in the face. Zoya smiled innocently. Nadeen and Memphis made themselves small, in fear of whatever Nora was about to do.

"How are you partnering up with her instead of me?" Nora looked at Zain so intensely that Zoya thought Zain might explode under her tension.

"Well I didn't know you were interested," Zain mumbled.

"Excuse me? Did we just become friends or haven't you known me for almost your entire life!" Nora yelled which earned her a few curious glances.

Zoya was enjoying the scene herself, it seems she wasn't the only one who was giving Zain a hard time.

Nadeen slid in and sat beside Zoya on the bench, "Sorry about that, but Nora does get a little protective of Zain."

Zoya looked at Nadeen, "and you?"

"Well I get protective too, of course. But we're friends now, so you're good," Nadeen explained and gave Zoya a bear hug, which Zoya awkwardly accepted.

She went back to sit beside Memphis and put her arms around his. They smiled at each other and shared a sentimental nose rub. Nadeen's smile was as contagious as her brother's. Her white teeth and the illuminance of sunset rays, contrasted beautifully with her dark complexion, making Nadeen look more pretty than she already was. She clearly saw something in Memphis because somehow he looked differently around her, he was more confident about himself whenever Nadeen was near him. They started whispering to each other, so Zoya decided to stop listening and to let the pair have their moment.

On the same table, Nora was still biting-off Zain and he attempted to make things better and failed admirably. The difference in scenery made Zoya laugh so loud that the trio laughed at her laughter. She laughed so hard, Zoya snorted and spilled her water on the table. But that didn't matter. The liveliness was amazing, and she loved every moment of it.

"Hey! Since we will see more of you, and since you've come to your liking, we can be part of our group!" Nadeen proposed.

"Yes! But we will need a new name," added Memphis.

"We can't. We are called the Trio, for a reason," said Nora in annoyance. Her pixie hair accentuated the seriousness of her expression.

"Oh come now, we always have one more room for a friend," smiled Zain.

"Oo I know! How about the Quad Squad!' Nadeen yelled in excitement.

"Much like the Quack Squad," Nora replied.

"Oh come on, that would be fun!" Nadeen ran to Nora to convince her how brilliant her idea was.

"I like the Trio better," Nora cut her off and rolled her eyes before she sat beside Zain.

"Okay we will vote then! All in favor to have Zoya join the Quad Squad say Ai," said Nadeen.

All said 'Ai' except one.

"Haha! It's three against one. We overrule you, Nora," Memphis concluded and fell silent when Nora gave him a death glare.

"I could care less," Nore replied and began to play with Zain's hair who didn't mind.

"Welcome to the Quad Squad Zoya! Now you're officially one of us," announced Zain, Memphis and Nadeen in turns.

"I guess I can learn to co-exist with you," said Nora."

"That's the greatest compliment you will get from her," Zain explained.

"So not true!" Nora protested.

They started to bicker and Memphis and Nadeen continued to whisper.