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Autumn. They didn't have many fond memories of autumn. In fact, he couldn't recall anything particularly interesting happening in autumn. Of course, autumn was commonly associated with the beginning of a new school year. Jasper didn't hold onto many fond school memories. Here's to another uneventful year.

The uncomfortable rumble of the 1999 Ford Thunderbird lulled Jasper out of a fitful slumber. His hazy eyes shifted over towards his uncanny companion. Unlike him, she was a bit smaller. Her original ginger locks were dyed black. Her bangs were trimmed and straightened. Her face was littered with piercings. She wore a spiked sleeveless jacket and a black crop top, filled with skulls. Of course, they called Calliope a witch; her entire wardrobe told the story.

Jasper was another story. He embraced his curly, yet unruly ginger hair. He wore thick-framed glasses in order to hide his dark circles and freckles. He wore a large jacket, which masked his slender frame. You wouldn't know that they were twins from the first glance.

The Thunderbird began to pull into the extended driveway leading to the school. Dimrose: Academy of the Arcane Yes, that's what it was called. Because Harvard and Duke never called him back, and Calliope never applied for college. Yup, that's why.

The school was massive. Definitely something out of Harry Potter, although he hadn't brushed up on his Potter-lore since the ninth grade. Still, he'd always had an interest in film. A box of VHS tapes rattled in the trunk of the decaying car. "S-Should've invested in a Hearse." Jasper noted. Stutter. He stuttered. He hated it. If he had the chance, he'd remove his ability to speak so nobody would have to hear him utter another stutter-ridden word ever again. Calliope gave a half-hearted cackle at the off-handed joke in regards to her car.

Calliope turned the radio off as they began to pull into the limited parking lot behind the school.They seemed to be one of the few students to bring their own car. Stepping out of the vehicle, Calliope stretched her arms. "Are we early? No way. That's a first." Calliope chuckled.

Jasper
Calliope

After hauling their belongings out from the rickety old car, the twins began to head to the dormitories. Before opening ceremonies, they were to bring their luggage to their supposed "home for the next four years". "See you there?" Cal winked. Truthfully, Jasper didn't trust Cal by herself. Trouble always found it's way to the gothic girl. Jasper reluctantly nodded his head and the two parted ways.

"Oooo, sick ********' rooms." Cal whispered to herself. Fortunately, she found herself in Flaumart's Hall, the largest dormitory building at the academy. The central area resembled a ballroom. An old chandelier clung to the ceiling as it slowly wafted back and forth. Cal found herself falling in love with the enormity of the school. As she traveled up the ascending staircase, she quickly whipped out the small, crumpled paper that dictated her room assignment. Room 413

With only three more enormous staircases to climb, Calliope began to grow tired of the massive scale of the building. "Invest in an elevator."

After successfully reaching the fourth floor, Calliope trudged to her aasignment room. The names of the occupants were engraved into the vintage wooden door: Jordi L'banda, Calliope Rhodes, Robin Anais. Adjacent to their names were thin tally marks, in which Cal assumed that they represented their year. Cal swung the door open to find that her roommates had beat her there: Their belongings were already organized into neat corners of the room. A small, delicate red flower in a ceramic pot must have found it's home on their window sill. The flower had intertwining hues of red and orange, which caught the eye of Cal. Setting her belongings down on the top bunk of the bed, she climbed down and approached the delicate herb. Her painted fingernail gently poked the stem.

It withered immediately at the touch. Cal jumped back. No. Not again. Quickly, she panicked and darted out of the room.

Jasper found himself at one of the smaller dormitories, Naxarth's Hall. It was a homey, vintage building with only two floors. Jasper inhaled a deep sigh of relief as he skimmed through the building's directory in order to find his room assignment. Room 203: Finn Zdarsky and Jasper Rhodes. Hm. Finn. "Hope h-he's friendly." Jasper murmured to himself.

Once he spotted the two engraved names on 203, he turned the knob and entered. It seemed that Finn hadn't arrived yet. Jasper claimed a side of the room and left his belongings on the bed, then retreated to the opening ceremonies.

Once Cal hurried out of gigantic dormitories, she found herself wandering into the crowded dining hall. In an attempt to compose herself, she began to meander throughout the hall. New and returning students demonstrated their unique magical skills and abilities for the room to view. The uproar of conversation dominated the aura. Cal felt a sense of acceptance; these were her people. She was one of them. On the other hand, she felt a distinctive distance. Her gothic appearance didn’t stuck out like spilled black paint on a white wall. She felt small in comparison to the older students and their well-versed, controlled abilities.

Her roommate’s dead plant. “Should’ve invested in a Hearse”. A walking funeral parlor.

Forget about it. It was difficult to calm herself down from the earlier event. Make conversation. You can do that, right? Cal took another deep breath and examined the numerous figures in the hall.

Eyeballs. They were eyeball earrings. They caught Cal’s attention almost immediately upon first glance. ”Woah, sick earrings.” Cal approached the older student. Cal gave a tiny chuckle after the eyeballs blinked back at her. ”How’d you get these bad boys?” Cal found herself more fascinated than frightened. The element of the odd and intrigue was her interest of choice.

Instead of immediately hurrying to the dining hall, Jasper decided to wander throughout the main grounds of the campus. The whistling oak trees caught the attention of the young boy. As he approached the inhaled a deep breath of a new start. He gently laid his hand on the sturdy trunk of the tree.

The wood sizzled beneath his touch. A handprint burned into the tree.

"Cal. Well, technically Calliope. Sometimes Callio or Calico. Whatever works." Cal responses, finally taking her own eyes off of the earrings. Finally, something was going right. At least, for the moment. Cal quickly scanned the room, subconsciously searching for Jasper. Usually, she could spot the boy in a crowd. However, his absence made her surprisingly worried. It's not usual for Cal to be the responsible sibling. Still, she didn't miss Jasper's social ineptness. "I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that you're not new." Cal began, tapping the tip of her combat boot against the floor.

After spending some time outside, Jasper decided to settle into the dining hall. The size and occupancy of the room made Jasper shudder with anxiety. Simply, he wasn't a people person. Quietly, he shuffled to the outer corner of the hall; the only unclaimed sector of the hall. "Taking 'wallflower' to the next level, there?" A pair of dark, judging eyes.She wore an oversize knit sweater and hoop earrings. Her lightly-colored lips complimented her tan complexion. "T-That's your definition of mak-king friends?" Jasper raised a ginger brow. She gave a small chuckle at Jasper's attempt at a joke. "Before you assume that my name is mega-b***h, it's Jordi." Jordi gave a toss of her caramel locks. "Mega-b***h is t-tempting." Jasper joked.


Jordi

{{It's okay! I don't mind! I'm glad you got an A! I found out I nailed my Child Psychology presentation today which is cool. I just got two papers to finish during break.

Do you have to mentor freshmen, or was it a request? If you're not comfortable with it or you're overwhelmed by the idea, maybe try talking to someone about it?}}

Before Cal could wish the perfect stranger goodbye, she was gone. Cal gave a weak wave to her new friend. After Fayre's departure, Cal scanned the room once more in search of her brother. However, this time, she could spot the freckled dork. Cal's jaw nearly hit the grown when she spotted Jasper talking with someone, let alone a girl. Before she could intrude, the ceremonies began, and Cal felt pressured to take a seat before she could draw attention to herself.

"Jasper, eh? Why'd you come all the way out here?" Jordi leaned against the stone wall. "Harvard a-and Duke never called me back. Maybe because I-I slept-walked and almost t-torched our backyard." Jasper gave a half-hearted shrug, followed by a sharp chuckle. "I-It's funnier than it sounds." Jasper assured, although the look of disturbance remained on Jordi's face. Once the trumpets began to blast, Jordi leaned over towards Jasper one more time. "Nice meeting ya', Torch. I'll see you around, maybe." Jordi's firm hand reached over to Jasper's limp arm as she gave him a firm handshake and scurried off. Once the fanfare ceased, Jasper took the seat farthest in the back and listened.

Transfiguration, Alchemy, Potions, Charms, Latin? The spells are in LATIN? Pyromancy? No, no. Elemental fraternities? ********, that's a lot of clubs. And rules.This is...this is a lot.

After the nerve-wracking opening ceremony, Jasper felt too jittery to stand. His eyes scanned the room for a potential lifeline. No Jordi. No Cal. Maybe his roommate? No, he didn't even know what he looked like. Jasper remained frozen in his seat as individuals began to leave their seats.

Unlike Jasper, Cal wasn't as afraid of the upcoming challenges. As soon as the presentation ended, she rushed out of the dining hall to meet her new friend. The school's grounds were extensive, but Cal believed that she was growing accustomed to the grand appearance of Dimrose. The courtyard was a breath of fresh air to the Gothic, vintage architecture of the campus. The whispering oak trees and the autumn breeze was a pleasing aesthetic.

"Are you for real?"

Jordi was already exhausted from the intensity of the opening ceremony. Instead of a relaxing afternoon in her dorm, she was greeted with a problem. "Xia, what happened?" Jordi knelt down next to the dead plant. With a sigh, she gently began to stroke the decayed leaves of the plant, which began to shrivel and fall. "I can fix this. Yeah, I can." Jordi reassured herself as she remained close to the deceased plant. Slowly, the color began to return to the bottom of the stem.

Finally, Cal spotted Fayre. "Wow, they really weren't kidding about this place being huge." Cal noted as she peered back over at Fayre. She clicked her tongue and fiddled through her pockets. A pack of cigarettes, thirty-nine cents and a magic marker. Always prepared. "The whole magic thing hasn't really clicked with me yet." Cal admitted. Although Cal left her "bad girl" persona at home, she felt a hint of rebellion flow through her veins.

Anxiety began to settle in as Jasper finally mustered enough courage to rush out of the dining hall. He couldn't even remember where he was going although he didn't seem to care enough to decide. Once he reached the outside world, he gasped for air. Cal called him overly-anxious. Well, that was the nice term for it. Spazz. That's the word. Torch. That's what Jordi called him after his brief confession. He wanted to be upset, but he did refer to a stranger as 'mega-b***h', which seemed to balance out. He continued to frantically wander until he reached the stables. "W-What the..." It's true: He'd never seen a unicorn before. A mortal life was truly boring.

"I wasn't huge on extracurriculars. My version of fun is getting black-out drunk, stealing a bike and getting lost in the woods." Cal replied without any thought. She took note of Fayre's focus on her appearance, but shrugged it off. Cal was well aware of her less-than-conventional appearance. "How did you end up here? I mean, most people don't wake up and discover they're capable of magic, right?" Cal asked sheepishly. Although Cal was fairly confident, she was uncomfortable with the topic and wanted to gauge the answer of her new friend.

Jasper snapped out of his daze. "M-Many questions, but I'll keep them s-short." Jasper scratched the back of his head. "I...didn't t-think they existed." he admitted. Just then, Jasper looked down at the cat begging for his attention. He never considered himself a cat person; that was Cal's area of expertise. Still, it was cute. Jasper couldn't help but to kneel down and scratch the top of the cat's head.

"That's a lot." It was the only thing Cal could say. Fayre's tale reminded her of Jasper. Although Cal felt uncomfortable speaking about her own abilities, she didn't mind leaking Jasper's secrets. Derailing the conversation seemed like the only option in order to avoid speaking about her "ability". "It...reminds me of my brother, Jasper. He goes here too. He slept-walked into our backyard and lit it on fire. It wasn't the first time something like that had happened. Let's just say he doesn't sleep much anymore." Cal admitted quietly before looking back up at Fayre. "But you're okay now, right? You got Stefan. If you want to count me in there too, I'm down." Cal gave a smile. Despite her standoffish appearance and sarcastic demeanor, Cal exhibited a particular warmth.

Jasper was silent for a few moments as he continued to pet the friendly cat. "More t-than what I asked for, but at l-least I'm learning. That's what school is f-for, right?" Jasper replied sarcastically.