School Reds and Blues by CE Dalton

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CHAPTER NINE

Catherine looked up as her mother finally came in so they could open presents. She handed out glasses of juice so they wouldn't need to get up, then sat down to look over the mass of presents. "We ready?" Catherine asked.

Her father nodded. "Go ahead, princess."

"Thanks." She picked up her stack of envelopes and one real present. She looked through them, recognizing most of the handwriting. One stopped her and she opened it first, looking at the gift certificate. "We have a specialist bookstore near the school?"

"It's coming in soon," Tyler admitted, looking over her shoulder. "I have no idea where that might have come from." He shrugged. "Save it, it might come in handy." She tucked it away and he slipped it into the pocket of her robe for her since he was sitting on it. He took his few presents and handed Sascha hers. He smiled at the parents. "Thank you for including us. You didn't have to."

"We like it when our baby girl has friends," her father said happily. "It was nothing."

"In other words, they did the smart thing and ordered them," Crystal said as she pulled her stack over. She looked at the flat boxes, then at her father. "New wardrobe?" she asked hopefully.

"Open them and see," her mother said firmly, accepting her few boxes. Her husband accepted his. "I hope that one is good enough for your new uniforms, Catherine."

She opened her mother's envelope, looking at the gift certificate. "More than," she agreed. "I can buy shoes too, real shoes." Her mother laughed. "It's pitiful but I only had my boots to go with my uniforms that first week. I looked like some vampire wannabe." She opened her father's and found her usual bookstore gift card. "Thanks, dad. I got their saver card the other day and it'll be put to good use."

He snorted. "I'm sure. How much did it save you?"

"Nearly thirty dollars overall, ten percent," she said, smiling at him. "I took the rest of my allowance with me." He laughed, shaking his head. "Open mine first. I had to bring it with me."

He opened it and smiled at the small model car. It was an ancient model he liked a lot. "This'll go well on my desk, thanks, precious."

"Welcome," she said, holding in the shudder at the pet names. She opened her next one from the Scruffy Ones together and smiled. "Another gift card," she said happily.

"We had to look up which stores were local," Sascha explained, holding up the pretty dress. "Thank you, I love this," she said happily, not having to fake it. The velvet would be warm and it was a style that she could wear a lot.

Tyler smiled and nudged her. "I dare you to wear that to the school dinner next month."

She punched him on the arm. "Do not start or I'm telling Nick. He said it had to be a formal event, no matter how much you hate wearing ties."

Catherine snickered. "I'm sure we'll be fine, guys." She looked at Crystal. "Is mine in there?" It was waved, a nice certificate to her favorite jewelry store. "I wasn't going to presume."

"No, it's nice," she agreed. "I need some new earrings." She smiled at her. "Get mine?" Catherine waved the gift certificate to the shoe store. "I figured you probably needed some with what I saw in your bags."

"I could use a new pair of boots," she agreed. She dug into her other cards, finding the other expected ones to the music store and to the store where they got their jackets. "Thanks, mom."

"You're welcome, dear. I had no idea what you'd need or want for a jacket."

"You know, for all the snow we get, it's not that cold," she admitted. "Unless you're cold blooded like our new headmaster. He can never get warm enough."

"Yeah, but he's got an excuse," Sascha pointed out with a grin. "What's the last one?"

"I have no idea," she admitted, looking at it. It didn't have a card or a name tag. It didn't have the same design as Aunt Jemma's wrapping paper and it definitely wasn't wrapped by her because it was professionally done. She carefully opened the gold paper, exposing the flat box. She opened it and then gaped. "Someone with very bad taste," she noted, holding up the nightie. "I don't think I need this yet." She blushed.

Her father grimaced. "That was a bit distasteful," he agreed.

"I got you one to the bookstore too," Tyler admitted. "I stuck it in your stocking."

"Me too," Sascha offered, "but I got Mall certificates so you could do whatever you needed."

"I certainly didn't," Crystal said. "That is the wrong color for you, dear. No card?"

"No." She looked in the box, there wasn't a card or anything. Nothing. She looked at her mother. "A gag gift?" she asked hopefully. Her mother frowned and shook her head. "Do we know where it came from?"

"It came in that shipment of your last presents," she said thoughtfully.

"I would never buy this," she pointed out. "I can't sleep in silk, I'd rip it. I barely manage it in stretchy cotton jammies." Tyler patted her on the back as she carefully bundled it back into the box and put it aside. "Maybe one of the interfering siblings?" she asked.

"Maybe, but most of my siblings wouldn't think to buy something that personal," Tyler told her, grimacing at the box. "We'll figure that out, I promise.

"That is just odd and creepy," Crystal agreed. She opened her first box and squealed at the gown inside. "Thanks, daddy!" She got up to hug him. She had been looking at that dress, it was more adult than she was doing presently and she had wanted to show off her new body. "This is so great!" She tore open the other packages, showing off her new gowns.

"Maybe you could sell some of your old ones to some of the younger girls," her mother suggested. "Or put them on consignment." Her daughter nodded, anything to have a grown-up pageant wardrobe.

"Gee, wouldn't that take care of her closet being so crowded she can't pull stuff out or put stuff in?" Catherine teased. Her sister spit at her. "You can't."

"I can so. I cleaned out some of it for my drawers again. I got a new, bigger, dresser."

"Yes, but now that you're growing again, a lot of that stuff won't fit you, dear," her father reminded her. "You can get rid of it."

"Sure, daddy. This should do me for the next two or three until we figure out how my body's going to fill out." She hugged the dresses again.

Catherine smiled at her. "Now you'll need new jewelry."

"Yup, sure will," she agreed happily. She grinned at Sascha handed her one from her and Tyler. "Thanks, you didn't have to."

"It's only polite and I figure you can use it for movies or something," he said with a smile.

She opened it and it was a smaller gift certificate to the bookstore. "I can get my updated magazines too," she said happily. She looked at Sascha. "You're about my old size, want to help me and see if there's anything you want to steal from my closet?"

"No thanks. I've got six trunks of clothes I never wear at home," she admitted with a slight blush. "My mother is a clothes person but I'm mostly happy in my t-shirts and jeans. I've got suits, formal wear, and a trunk of shoes at home."

Crystal nodded. "Then you should get along well with my sister, who seems to wear pajamas most of the time around the house."

Her mother chuckled. "Behave, Crystal."

"It's the truth," Catherine reminded her. "I see no reason to get dressed without a good reason."

"The guys on her floor don't even tease her about her Mickey Mouse pajama bottoms anymore," Sascha told her. "Or her other ones."

Her father shook her head. "Doing that around boys means that you don't get dates, little pop-up."

She shrugged. "I don't need a date, dad. I'm there to study right now and then I can worry about dates later." He sighed. "I know, but I'm only sixteen. I don't need a steady boyfriend yet. I'm in my first year and everyone knows I'm concentrating on the important things. Dating comes later, when I'm more solidified and ready to move on. Probably from someone like me as well since I'm in a school full of people like me."

"Mostly," Tyler agreed. "She'll have no trouble finding one. The guys see her as one of them, but pretty neat. She doesn't mince words when they ask for advice and she's a good friend to most of the guys on her floor. She even organized a puzzle party a few weeks before the end of term so everyone could have one night off."

"Wow," Crystal said. "You live with guys?"

"I'm one of two girls on my floor," Catherine told her. "It's an overflow room. Then again, it keeps me from some of the petty little creatures who hate me because I'm not simpering little being there to get married," she pointed out. "Me and my roommate, who's a fourth year in the higher program live across the hall from Tyler. The guys are kept out of our rooms and we've got a common room to ourselves or we can go joke and play with them if we want. I did a puzzle night down the hallway. We all brought pillows and drinks, then put together puzzles on the hallway floors so we could switch around. It was much needed rest before the tests."

"Before that, the guys had been pulling hair and walking around like zombies," Sascha told her. "Test anxiety runs pretty high around the school, but her floor looked like the walking dead."

"Good job, princess," her father praised. "Any cute guys on your floor?"

"Dad, there's not that many ugly ones in the school," she told him. "Really. I get on well with most of the guys. I'm some sort of mascot to them playing pranks on the other guys. They seem to think I inspire them." He chuckled. "I have no idea why. Then again, I'm also the source for fun reading material on my floor too." She looked at Tyler. "Will I have to move everything out next summer?" He shook his head. "Good. Then I can have my books shipped," she said happily. "I was going to pick up some of the graphic novels as well. I've missed a few of my comics." She gathered up everything, finding a card she hadn't opened. She popped the seal and winced, then handed it to her mother. "Maybe it fell off the box," she said, shrugging. She carried everything up to her room then got a long drink before coming back down. Her mother had made the envelope disappear. "I knew he didn't send it."

"I know that too, dear, but that was a mean prank to play."

Tyler grimaced. "He put my name on it?"

"You and someone named Robbie."

"That's one of my brothers and he adores her. He can talk business matters and foreign policy with her. I think he sees her as a future accountant and business partner." He curled up, letting her settle against his side again. "I know Robbie doesn't have that bad of taste and he's never even seemed to notice girls."

"He's dating Serena, the one on Three East," Catherine told him. "He asked my advice for a Christmas present."

"Really?" He frowned. "I didn't realize that."

"I'm not sure she does. He thinks of her as a study-buddy most of the time but he wanted to get her something *really* nice." She grinned and nudged him. "I know you didn't send the distasteful nighty. Relax."

"I am," he admitted, giving her a short hug, then giving one to Crystal since she was close enough. "I will find that pranker now."

"Could it have been that Marna girl?" Crystal asked.

"It about suits her taste," Catherine admitted. "She wouldn't have had access to the things I had shipped though."

"She might have bribed someone," Sascha told her. "I doubt it though, that's an expensive gift certificate. Maybe it was that old guy following you around town last time?" she suggested.

"Yeah. Maybe." She grimaced then shuddered. "No thanks."

"Old guy?" her father asked.

"Standard old guy wanting someone young and pretty to be theirs," she assured him. "All outings in town have at least one teacher with them. I had Tyler and his big brother, my floor monitor, so I leached onto Tyler's arm and got cute with him."

Tyler laughed. "It worked, he looked so hurt that a sixteen-year-old wouldn't want a sixty-something-year-old man. He did leave the girls alone after Mr. Rayne got him."

"You call him by his last name?"

"It's a brother by special adoption. My mother liked him enough to be a son."

"Ah." The adults nodded. "Understandable." He looked at Crystal. "Put those upstairs before they wrinkle, babydoll." She nodded, running upstairs. "She's safe?"

"More than, dad. We're never left alone and there's always someone we can run to. The town's not that big. Even if one of them wanted to corner me, it's probable that one of my classmates are nearby if not with me. The teacher's usually in a central location and there's only three streets of shops. There's no alleys, there's no dark spots that they can trap me."

"She's taking self defense this upcoming semester," Sascha promised. "We all take it in our first year's second term. It's mandatory."

He relaxed again. "Sounds like they do like you guys up there and that they take good care of you."

"The castle's dreary but the town's one of those picturesque places," Tyler told him. "Nothing bad ever happens there. The last time they had a murder was 1983." Her mother smiled at that. "The last assault was about six months before that and the same person did it. He's now in jail. The worst they get is some drunken revelry now and then for festivals."

"They have four cops and they're pitifully out of work and bored," Sascha agreed. "They always stalk the first years around during their first trip into town hoping to find something wrong. It makes their year."

"Good," her father agreed. "I like that." He looked at his wife. "Maybe we should pop around and check out this school. Maybe Crystal would like to go?"

"Um, dad, entrance exam," Catherine said delicately. "Very hard. You have to be at least in Trigonometry to pass the math part. The science part contains Chemistry and Physics. The English part is the easiest and it's pure grammar." He shuddered. "She might fit in, but I'm not sure she could pass that test without some help. I'll suggest her and that might make it easier. Would they consider me alumni, Tyler?"

"I'm not sure. Usually that's for daughters and sons of former students. It might, you'd have to ask Nick." He shrugged. "Who knows. She would fit in well with the red girls and she'd probably love all the rich boys gathering around to meet her."

"Then she'd have to give up her pageants," Sascha pointed out. "There's none over there."

"Why would I?" Crystal asked as she came down the stairs. "I love my pageants."

"Dad suggested you could try to get into my school."

She gave her father a very serious look. "Daddy, I'd have to hurt you if you ever threatened me with going there. I'd be miserable, surrounded by rich snobs, and a virtual hostage in the castle because there's *nothing* fun to do in her school's town. Not even a theater. I might want to see Europe some day, but not like that. Please, never try to do that to me if you love me."

"No wonder they give you cable," her father noted. "No movie theater?"

Catherine shook her head. "No, but we get Cinemax and Showtime. It makes up for it. Besides, you're only allowed in town one weekend a month except for special things. You learn to bribe the group going that weekend if you need something. I think the going rate is five or ten dollars, depending on what you need."

"Clothes is usually ten and food is usually five per hundred you want them to spend for you," Sascha agreed.

Tyler nodded. "Too true, unfortunately. I had to bribe one of the second years for chocolate last month and she drove a hard bargain, thirty bucks and a loan of a textbook from a lower class that she didn't have anymore."

"That's a bit much," Catherine told her.

"I was desperate, kitten. I had to have chocolate or I'd go nuts and I know better than to ask you for yours." She laughed and hugged him. "Thanks. I'm stocking up like I do each term but I'll probably run out right before tests."

"You can always order some," she pointed out.

"I hadn't thought of that. I'll remember that this time, it'd be cheaper to pay shipping." She nodded smugly. "When did you want to go to the mall?"

"Not tomorrow. Tomorrow's the second busiest day for shopping as everyone takes things back." She straightened up. "That store's where?"

"In town," her mother admitted. "You could take it in there and ask," she agreed. "Maybe turn it in for something more tasteful."

"From that store?"

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "I've found some nice things in there. They do have bras and things as well."

"Then maybe that, I could use some more," she agreed. "I had one snap on me last month." She grimaced. "It won't hurt to go ask." Her mother handed back the gift certificate and she tucked it into her pocket with the other one. Three odd gifts. It was almost enough to bother her.

"It's time for the traditional breakfast," Crystal said happily. "Come on, let's get dressed. We always go out to the waffle house and I've been saving up on calories for this treat."

Catherine stood up and went to put on real clothes. That was a good enough reason. The odd gifts were piled together on her dresser, just in case something turned out like her shoes had.

***

Catherine came back from her trip to the lingerie store frowning. "They don't know," she told her mother. "It was ordered online and sent from the local shop supposedly. The present was sent to the school and the gift certificate was mailed locally." Her mother looked confused. "I'm guessing it did it somehow." She shrugged. "I don't know. That's what their records show, but it was put down as anonymous love." She grimaced. "I have *no* clue now." She looked around. "The house is quiet. Did you make Crystal go shopping?"

Her mother rolled her eyes. "She's looking over her new magazines. She used the gift certificate to get her pageant and clothing ones. Plus a new DVD."

"That's good, I'm glad it made her happy. Did she do the jewelry store too?"

"Of course." Her mother put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the kitchen. "How is school really?"

"Good. I'm happy with it." Her mother made them cups of cocoa and set one down in front of her. It was going to be one of *those* conversations then. "No, mom, I'm not dating Tyler."

She smiled at her. "He does like you. I can tell." She took a sip of her cocoa. "He introduces you to his family. He brings you with him when he goes to do fun things. He asks your opinion. He gave you a very nice holiday present. He's very protective of you. He was as upset as I was about that nighty."

She rolled her eyes. "Mom, Tyler's years older than I am. We're buddies. I'm like a mascot for his family."

"Are you sure?" she probed. "He does like you, I can tell. You like him as well, quiet a lot if what I'm seeing is correct." Her daughter shook her head. "No?"

"No, we're friends. Really, mom. I like being friends with people. Tyler's a really nice guy, and if I was interested and he made a move, it might happen, but it won't. I'm their mascot. They needed more friends and I'm a good one. Plus, Tyler's going to be going out into the world in another year and a half. I'm going to be in the school for another three to five, depending on if I want to go for the advanced programs and teachings. Sascha and I are buddies and I like Tyler the same way. That's all there is to it. We're really close friends."

"If you say so." She looked her over. "If he offered, you'd take him up on it?" She nodded. "Then you do have feelings for him?"

"It could switch into that with some prodding. Close friendships are usually that way from what I've seen. Plus, he does seem to understand me most of the time."

Crystal joined them, looking a bit confused. "I just checked on Sascha and she looks like a guy," she said.

"She does in some lights," Catherine agreed. "It's her body-type. A few guys have even confused her."

"She didn't seem to be that boyish."

"She's trying to correct that some of the time," Catherine told her. "It's real obvious when we're at the school and in our uniforms and she's wearing pants." She looked at her mother. "Even if I wanted to, school rules forbid dating other students. They don't want those sorts of entanglements to interfere with your studies." She sipped her cocoa.

"Ooh, are we talking about Tyler's *obvious* desire for you, sis?"

"We're really close friends."

"I wish my boyfriend treated me half as good as he treats you," she snorted.

"Boyfriend?" her mother asked. Her daughter pinkened and backed out of the room. "We'll be talking soon, Crystal. I know nothing about this boy. Unlike your sister's friend." She looked at her daughter again, frowning at her. "If you would give him a nudge, he would fall for you, dear. I want you to be happy."

Catherine leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I am, I'm very happy not to have to worry about dating someone and merging my personality traits with theirs. I'm not ready yet, mom. Give me time. One day, I will bring home a guy and say 'okay, finally,' but it's not now. Sorry to burst the wedding bubble."

"I wasn't even dreaming of a wedding. You're right, you're too young." She gave her a long look. "Fine, he's your friend, a special friend but still a friend. I won't remark on it and I'll keep your father from picking on you and him."

"Please, and can you maybe do something about the pet name situation?" she asked quietly. "You know I hate it."

"He calls you kitten," she said with a smirk.

"That's because someone's hunting their mother and he doesn't want to put me in any more danger than I am already." Her mother looked stunned. "It's a weak subterfuge but the guy who's hunting her doesn't know my name we think. Kitten is their way of pointing out that I'm not to be bothered."

"Are we talking about that nice boy she's dating?" her father asked as he walked in.

"Not dating. We're only friends. Very good friends, but still just friends."

"Not dating him? You hug him, ask his opinions, and you hang out with him all the time, daughter." He gave her a long look, then sighed. "Fine, you're not dating. I don't know why, you're a pretty girl. You could have any boy in your school if you tried I bet."

"I don't want to try. I don't need the extra stress of dating. I'm sixteen and I have a long life ahead of me, dad, really. I don't need a guy."

"You know, sometimes I think that some man hurt you some horrible way," he said grimly.

"No, it's just reality intruding. A boyfriend takes away from my time studying and I've got to study to keep my place and to move on with my plans for my future. Catering to another person's schedule interferes with that. Tyler and I are really close friends. We live on the same hall, we share some classes, we study together and I study with the rest of his family for the things I share with them. I've been adopted into their clan you might say. Besides, school rules forbid dating. It's a closed system and it could cause a lot of problems if widespread dating occurred in such a small pool of people."

"Fine," he said sadly. "Some day you'll look back and regret not dating any boy who asked."

"None of the guys ask, dad. They know I'm goal oriented. I've got a lot of guy friends, I understand them pretty well I think. I'm not going to miss out on anything, I'm simply not doing it now. I'm only sixteen, I don't need a guy. Why do I need someone who wants to take my books?"

He snorted. "Maybe that's the problem. You're very bookish, dear."

"I like myself this way and I'm happy, father. I like my books, I enjoy my books. You have Crystal to be the pampered princess who's going to come running with all the guy problems. I'm more likely to be one of those who'd work it out and quietly dump them." Her mother nodded. "I'm a lot like her in that respect."

"I've noticed. That doesn't mean you can't try, daughter."

"I don't need to try. I'm only sixteen."

"Most girls have had at least one boyfriend by now."

"Most girls don't have a clue about their future. I do. You'll find that those of us who want to do something great with our lives are more than willing to hold off on the dating thing until we're ready and at a place where a boyfriend won't take away from our plans. Like after college. Not having to study every night and only having to work for a living means that I'll have more free time. No more papers to write." He sighed again. "Sorry, but I don't need one. I thought long and hard about this a few years ago, dad. I have no need to try and bend myself to the will of someone else or to make compromises in how I am at this time in my life. Even if Tyler and I are really good friends and he understands me, he understands that about me. He'd never even think about it right now. Not when he's leaving in a year and a half and I'm going to be at the school for another three-to-five years." She shifted on her seat and finished her cocoa. "Sorry. I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not ready for that responsibility yet. Like driving, it's one of those things I'll be doing soon enough."

"Fine," he agreed. "When you are, I'll explain to you how boyfriends and friends who are boys are different."

"One's trying to impress and get in my pants and one's not usually," she noted. "Got that. I live on a floor with sixty guys." He grimaced. "It's true."

"It is," he agreed. "You're sure you're not interested in him? Just a tiny bit?"

"We're really close friends, father. That's all. It's one of those that could warp some day, but not at this moment in time." She stood up and put her cup into the sink, running some water into it. "No luck on finding who sent me the nighty. There was no listing of a person and the online records didn't state anything."

"Online?"

"Yeah, he put it on a 'hide me' setting. They offer that for secret admirers," she said grimly. "The nighty was sent to the school and somehow got mixed in but they said the gift card came here from the local store." She looked at her mother. "Is it right for me to use that?"

She shrugged. "I don't see how it's not. Keep it for a bit and use it online if you want."

"I might," she agreed. "We're heading to the bookstore in two days. I called and the manager said they're getting in new books the night before so they'll be putting out new stock. Then Tyler and I are coming back here to ship most of our new collections back to the school. That way we don't have to worry about maxing our weight restrictions on the plane. The day after that, I'm doing uniforms and shoes, probably with Crystal to get her out of the house and away from boredom and her closet since she's pouting while going through it." Her father nodded. "That'll give you two some time alone too."

"Thank you, dear. You're a thoughtful daughter," her mother said, giving her a hug. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. Actually there is." She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to her mother. "I checked on grandmother's trust fund. Did you add to it?" Her mother nodded. "I figured as much. Would you agree to me getting an allowance from there instead of stressing the household budget? It'd leave you one less bill to pay in case the dealership has another bad month. He said he can set up one of those check card accounts so I can access ten percent of it and leave me with a small allowance each month if you agree."

"That's for college," her mother said firmly.

"Mom, we all know I'm not going to be doing drugs with it. I'm going to be buying more books, and I can promise some will be for school. Our library's good, but not like the main branch in New York City. I've had to order two books so far for accessory studying for physics. Plus, next year I'm going to be getting more business oriented and I'll have to start writing papers. I can do a lot of it online but I'll still need some sources. This could pay for me to get the magazine subscriptions I want, any books I might need, and leave me a healthy snack and chocolate allowance. Plus, ten percent of that will still leave me more than enough for college and grad school if I decide to go for an MBA or other degree. That would also give me an extra fifty a month on my allowance," she noted. "Which could be used to take some of my travel budget off your shoulders too."

"We're good paying for that," her father noted. "The dealership had a good year except for two months."

"Yes, but I don't want to stress the household budget and with Crystal going through puberty, she'll be changing sizes at least three times in the next three years. I'm not going to change much in size and I don't need that many clothes. It'll let you focus solely on Crystal, since she's still here. Plus, then you two could take a nice, long vacation away from the kids."

Her mother snorted, shaking her head. "Good reasons, well thought out, I'll give you a B for presentation."

"Then how about this," she offered. "It'll allow you to hire someone to follow the thirty-year-old guy dating your other daughter." They looked stunned. "I saw her at the mall. If he's her pageant trainer, I'll eat my own cooking."

Her mother nodded. "That's a very good reason," she admitted, looking at her husband.

"It's your mother's money," he pointed out. "What would she have wanted?"

"For this one to be like Crystal," she said dryly. "She was against me studying too." She looked at her daughters. "I will be watching over your purchases."

"Hey, that gives you access if you need it for oversight. He said I'd have to since I was only sixteen. He made a joke about me needing it for presents for a boyfriend, but I reminded him I had a grand-a-year book habit and travel needs to go back and forth to school. He said it was reasonable too."

Her mother signed the paper, handing it back. "Here. You will behave with it, young lady."

"Mom, I'm not the one you need to worry about an influx of money. The most I'd do is crowd my dorm room with books and piss my roommie off. Then again, I might get her some books to make her happier and have something to do besides date." She shrugged and headed back out to hand over the paper. The lawyer went with her to make the arrangements with the bank immediately, giving her the account number and making sure the card would go to her school address so no one could fuss with it. By the time she got back home, Crystal was in tears, sobbing pitifully in the living room, and Tyler was hiding in her room. "Boyfriend?"

"Oh yeah," he agreed. "She came clean. Your mother is not a happy woman at the moment. Sascha and I were both hiding in your library but your mother came up to clean."

"She does that when she's upset." She sat on her bed. "I got a cocoa talk. They think we're dating."

He laughed, hugging her. "I like you as a friend, dear. A special friend."

She pinched him. "Eavesdropping is a bad habit."

"I know but it's useful." He ruffled her hair. "We still on for the bookstore?"

"Oh, yeah. He said he's getting in new stuff tonight. Even some in your area. He asked if you were coming in." He grinned. "The mall should be less crowded too, less noisy."

"Hopefully. Those screaming kids about drove me out of my mind during lunch." He shook his head. "I was never like that. None of us were."

"Yeah, but you guys don't have many shopping malls around the school. I bet your mother took you to small clothing shops and things."

"Admittedly true," he agreed with a grin. "I remember throwing a few fits over not getting candy but nothing else. Maybe it was so many of them. One or two I can handle, four is a bit much, but there had to be eighty in the mall the day we went." She nodded as her mother opened the door. "Planning our book shopping."

"That's not a problem," she said as she walked in and closed the door. "Is she in danger?"

"No. We're protecting her," Tyler said immediately. "Even if they picked up on her as our friend, it probably can't be used against our mother. We're just being cautious."

"Then I don't have a problem with it." She looked at her daughter. "How did you know?"

"I saw the papers in your office when I went to deliver the mail yesterday," she admitted. "You weren't hiding them very well, mom."

"I wasn't trying to. I'm the one filing."

"I figured that much. He's really happy." She hugged her mother. "It'll be fine. Divorce isn't that bad."

"No, it's not," she agreed lightly. She patted her on the back. "I'm keeping the house or putting it into your name."

"It's mine anyway. Dad's will left it to me." Her mother looked stunned. "I know you were grieving, but I had a look over it last night. You might want to include that. Your assets are basically those from the second marriage, which he shouldn't be able to touch, and from your own business interests. The stock and things."

"Those came during my second marriage as well," she admitted. "You're studying law?"

"Business law, it's a mandatory class in my track but I've only picked up a book so far. I'm not due for that one for another two years."

Her mother nodded. "Very well then. Do you want visitation?"

"I don't mind him, mom. I'm good with all that. Crystal and I have learned to get along. Not that I'm going to be here. I think I can leave it open to if he wants to see me on holidays, when I'm here." She nodded. "Should I ask about summer school?"

"No, I don't think it'll be necessary." She smiled at her. "Thank you, dear."

"You're welcome, mom. Remember, we've lived through two funerals, we can get through most anything." Her mother nodded and left them, leaving the door open. "She's still stuck on me dating you," she said dryly, looking at Tyler. "Sorry."

"That's okay. I've seen it before." He shrugged and patted her on the back. "We'll talk whenever you need it." She nodded, and they both looked around the room. "Celia will kill you if you bring all this back."

"I'd never do that to her. I don't have much I want to bring that I don't already have. I can't bring my whole library. I'll need some new bookcases."

"There's empty ones all over the floor. You could trade some boys for theirs with offers of homework help."

"Maybe," she agreed. She grinned at him. "They don't use theirs for their school books?"

"We all get two of them and most guys don't use more than one. You and I are the only ones on the floor that use both bookcases and then some." She sighed, shaking her head in resignation. "They use the library when they want books."

"Then you have to wait if it's not there," she pointed out. "I know I've forgotten to bring some back before."

He nodded. "Me too. One of them I kept for a year because I forgot it wasn't my book. I had gotten a lot from used book sales."

She snickered. "So have I."

"I noticed. You could always put them all in big boxes and stack them in a corner or six. I've had to resort to that in the past." He patted her on the back again. "Next year, you'll have a bigger room. We all will."

"Why?"

"Because you'll be with us. All of us."

"Won't that be awkward?"

"Not likely. We'll have a room of our own, a common room, and you'll have a hallway down to yours."

Crystal peeked in. "Why does it sound like she's going to be in the same room as boys?"

"It's a special room. The rest of us have decided to live together," Tyler told him. "We're offering her a spot down in it. There's an old suite downstairs and we're claiming it."

"Having your family run the school must give you good perks." She walked in and closed the door. "So, you'll be *living* with boys?"

"No, I'll have my own room. The only thing I'll be sharing is a tv room."

"There's a suite attached to it, a separate one that you can have. It'll give her about the same setup she has now. Besides, we don't like her like that. Even your mother would agree."

"I doubt that."

"So do I," she said, looking at him. "She didn't like the thought of me living on a guy's floor for about two months."

"It won't be much different, only you'll have a door that connects directly to our part of the suite. That way you can have your own library."

Crystal frowned. "She's shipping all her books back?"

"Maybe. I'm going to be over there most of the time for the next three to five years, Crystal."

"Oh. What about when you come home?"

"Summer vacation is nine weeks long and winter is four," she pointed out, waving a hand around. "That's three months each year I'll be here. You'd complain if I was sucked in a book the whole time."

"Good point. If I'm allowed to see you."

"Mom said she wouldn't mind."

"I'm sure, but dad might."

"Hey, then you can always move back," she pointed out gently and quietly. She had heard someone outside her door. "Besides, it'll give you more room for your clothes."

She snorted. "Maybe." She looked at the door, then at her sister. She shook her head. "Think I could get away with asking for a puppy? Someone to love that wasn't a boy?"

"Maybe. That depends on how far mom's gotten in her cleaning." Someone tapped on the closed door. "Yeah?" The door opened and her mother leaned in. "Was that you?" She nodded. "Can Crystal have a puppy so she doesn't latch onto another leach?"

"We'll see," she said firmly. "Come on, let's redecorate your room, Crystal. It needs it. I'll even help you with your closet." She nodded, following her mother. Her mother smiled at her. "Thanks."

"Welcome. Tyler just told me they're taking over a suite lower in the castle as a group and invited me to live in the attached suite. There'll be a door between my sitting room and theirs."

"Will it lock?"

"Definitely and my brothers think of her like the delicate little woman she's not. One of the boys in school glared at her a few weeks back and he nearly beat him senseless over it."

"Why was he glaring?"

"She wasn't falling at his feet in a swoon."

"Ah." Her mother nodded. "They're certainly very protective of you, dear."

"You have no idea," she said dryly. "There's how many now?"

"Six or seven including adopted clan members. She'd have her own suite with her own sitting room. She might have to share a tv with us, but nothing else. Then she could bring more of her books."

Her mother smirked. "You are so transparent. You want in her library, don't you, Tyler?" she teased.

"Definitely. Even though I don't do fiction much, I like having it around to read and the school's library is pretty pitiful in that area."

"Internet access?"

"Will have to be run," he admitted. "So will cable, they're doing it this summer." He patted her on the back of the head. "It'll be set up when we move in there this fall." She shrugged. "Would that be all right? It's far down in the castle. She won't have much of a view, but the rooms will have one good view. We'd be protecting her like one of our own. She'd be perfectly safe and our mother gave the ok before she disappeared, plus Nick said it was fine."

"I'd like to have pictures of it at least," she pointed out.

"We can do that," he agreed. "Or you could pop over for a visit." She smiled and left to talk with Crystal and help her weed out her closet of the non-fitting clothes. "She really could."

"She knows. That was her 'I may do that' smirk. I'd expect her around Easter, it always bums her out. That's when my dad died and her second husband died not two months later in the year."

"Hmm. I'll warn Nick that she might come over then." He looked at her closet. "You really do need clothes."

"I know I do. That's why I'm going uniform shopping the day after tomorrow. You're coming of course. We've got to find a way to make the skirt look less like an old lady's."

"As long as it's black, you can do that."

"Good! That crinkle pleat thing is not me. Maybe a longer skirt? Something gauzy?" He nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Definite. The handbook says so. It's coincidence that most of the girls wear those straight skirts with pockets. They think they go better."

"I'd rather have longer skirts with pockets. That way I don't have to worry about crossing my legs. Short skirts are fine, but I like a longer one now and then. It's probably against the fashion police attitude in the girls' dorms but what do I care as long as it's legal."

"The only definition of skirt in the handbook is that it be at least five inches long. Mom had to put that one in a few years back." She shuddered. "Most of the girls go to the same spot to shop so they all get the same outfit. Then again, most of them are in Europe and it's not a problem for them all to stop in Paris on the way to school or on the way home from school. You being you won't bother too many people and the girls will consider you less of a threat and competition."

"Good, I like that. Maybe then some of them will leave me alone."

"Hopefully. I wondered why you were wearing such old lady clothes."

"Because that's what the shop had," she said wisely. She stood up and went to Crystal's room, knocking before leaning in. "I just found out I can get other sorts of skirts, including those broomstick ones that are so fashionable. Can I borrow Crystal for school shopping?" Crystal smiled and nodded. "Thanks." She closed the door and turned, finding her father there. "I don't have to wear those pleated things, I can wear the longer, gauzy things and be really comfortable and warm," she said happily.

"The uniforms aren't that specific?"

"They said black skirt or pants, and I asked Tyler, he said as long as it was over five inches long it was considered a skirt." She shrugged. "He said it'd be okay." She went back to her room and closed her door. "She's not crying."

"Good. She shouldn't, it looks pitiful." He got up to look at her dresser, pointing at the pictures. "Who are these people?"

She came over, pointing at the first. "That's my dad. He was heading to Argentina in that one. He was helping a colleague down there with some native rites." She moved onto the next one. "That's him too. He's going to Brazil I think in this one. Either there or Panama. I'd check but the clasp is hard to get." She moved onto the next set. "They're my grandmothers. My dad's mom," she said, pointing at the one on the left, "and my mom's mom." She tapped the empty spot. "I had another one of Nana Richards, but I don't know where it went. It slipped out during a move and I haven't ever found it." She pointed at the next grouping. "These are my second father. He was only here for maybe two years. The wedding picture, please don't look at the dress I was in, and that first Christmas." She thought back. "A year and ten months before he died." He nodded, looking at the last set. "That's Crystal at her first pageant after they got married, with a dress mom picked out for her. A few Christmas pictures. Aunt Jemma and her boys."

"They did try to destroy the library," he said with a grin. "They insisted that you had books on chocolate chip cookies hidden and that the books were actually hiding the cookies."

"I do have a book with a hollow in it, the second father left it to me. He used it on some courier jobs. I also have a canister of shaving cream with a fake bottom." She found it in her bottom drawer and handed it over. "It's got a trick opening." He looked at it then popped it open. "Very good." She tucked the money inside into her pocket. "My former allowance savings." He grinned. "The safe book is on the third shelf from the mark."

"I saw that." He looked on the walls. There were more pictures of her father in exotic locations. "You don't want to follow him?"

"I like the humanities but you should only go into them if you feel an absolute passion for them. It's a hard field filled with people who love the studies and not much money available. I like them but not that much. I'd take it as my minor in college probably. I'd also probably take my major as business and law split. I don't love the law but I find it useful and somewhat exciting in some areas. Especially contracts."

"Good. Maybe you should go work with Greg. He works for White Knight."

"I never heard of them." She sat on her bed. "What do they do?"

He looked down at her. "They're the information brokers. They give out research and facts in all sorts of fields to every major country and some corporations. We've got a huge library and fields as diverse as occult research to business to law to the social sciences to protocol for diplomats. That's a field I can see you in actually." She perked up. "It'd be a good field for you to study and you'd get some use out of it in your business classes too." She nodded for him to go on, getting comfortable. "I can't see you being a pure diplomat or ever pulling a nine-to-eight job on Wall Street, but I can see you working there. It's pretty stiff competition. Most of our people have at least met the people we work with at Oxford."

"My dad did his Masters at Cambridge. I can probably get in as the daughter of an alumnus."

He grinned and came over to sit beside her. "See, it's a good thing. You won't be officially learning about them until your third year but think about it. Greg said he likes the sound of you from where we bragged. Nick said he'd support you since most of us will be working there eventually. One of our sisters started it a long time ago. We've managed to remain autonomous for years because of her hard work."

"Wow. That does sound like it's up my alley. I can see myself being happy there." She hugged him. "Thanks, Tyler."

"You're welcome, kitten. Robbie, Sascha, and I will all be going there. William probably will, he's got a talent for weapons and we don't want him to fall into the wrong hands. Alexi is already temping there during the summers, as is Robbie. You'll fit in. It's not so much corporate as sections. The business section is a lot of people like Robbie. The social sciences section are a bunch of goofballs. We all share a massive library. It's seven stories tall and about as long as a football field. Full floors, not balconies." She let out a small whimper and a bit of drool. He grinned. "Think you'd like?" She nodded. "Then we'll talk you up to Greg and see if he'd like to have you come to us when it's time." He patted her on the back as the door opened. "Telling her about a business interest that could use her unique skills and knowledge," he told the father. "We like people who can cross over."

"I heard." He looked at her. "What's wrong with my daughter?" he asked quietly.

"I think they're having a girl talk about men," she said with a small shrug. "Mom pulled her down there for a long talk while they worked on her closet. They were also talking about some redecorating to show she was more grown up now."

"Good. It's good to recognize that. She needs to grow up." He glanced down the hall. "I know you'd never do anything but try to keep the door open."

"Sorry, I closed it to keep some privacy," Tyler told him. "The family business is another security restricted place. We think she'd fit in with the madness around there and one of the brothers working in there thought she might too from another brother's explanation and ranting in pleasure." He looked at her. "I checked my email and found one from Robbie. He said he could have used your unique outlook on people a few days ago. He ran into a social problem that was influencing a business decision and he had no idea of the underlying motives or cultural constants. He had to go our head flake to get it explained and he said it took about four times, with diagrams, for him to understand." She smiled at that. "He wanted you to translate the theory person into business for him."

"I don't have a problem doing that." The doorbell rang and she looked down from her window next to the bed. She opened it and stuck her head out. " Hold on, we're all upstairs," she told the delivery driver. She closed it and looked at her father. "UPS."

"Thanks." He trudged that way, taking the package, signing for it. He looked at it then went back up, handing it to her. "Yours I believe."

"From who?" she asked, looking it over. No return address. "Another one? Mom!" She came running so she handed it over. "Unless it's a late present, I have no idea."

"Not from me, dear." She untied the string around it, then undid the brown paper wrapping the box. She opened the box and pulled out a crystal ball, holding it up. "Know someone?"

"Let me see," Tyler asked, holding out a hand. He looked in it, seeing the message. He nodded, looking at her. "I think it's from the same joker," he said grimly. "I wonder if Nick's back at Yale for the holidays." She handed over her cellphone. "Thanks." He dialed his brother's apartment, getting his housekeeper. "Is Nick back for the holidays or at the school?" She told him his full schedule. "Thanks. No, tell him it's Tyler, I'm at Kitten's and she's been getting bad prank gifts. Tell him it's from another idiot at the school." He grinned. "Thanks. Yeah, if he wants, he should have her number, I gave it to him. Thanks, Helen." He hung up. "This narrows down your joker and it's not Marna. It's the one who did your shoes." She gaped at him. "Seriously." He put it on the bed. "It'll be fine. We've been waiting for an excuse with that one," he assured them calmly.

"What did she do to come to their attention?"

"He tries all the new kids and Catherine was not the most guarded her first few weeks. She was sent a fake placement letter and things." Her mother grimaced. "Like I said, we've been waiting for an excuse. So if my big brother calls, or shows up, just yell for me." They nodded, leaving them alone and the door open again. He looked at her. "Has he approached you?" he asked quietly. She shook her head. "You haven't seen him in town?"

"No. Not since that illusion in my room."

"More like a hologram. I don't know how, but he knows who you are and it's not funny." He heard someone knocking and got up to look out the window. "Hold on, Tish." He walked down the stairs. "He sent a closer sister," he said grimly, intercepting her mother to let her in. "Morning."

"It's afternoon, Tyler, but I expect you probably didn't get out of bed for the last few months. What's happened?"

"He sent her a crystal ball with a message playing it. He sent her a naughty nighty. He sent her a gift certificate to a lingerie shop." She took off her cloak hood to show a veil and habit in dark blue. "I left it with her. Catherine's mother, this is my big sister Tish. She's a nun in the order that serves the school." He led her upstairs and into Catherine's room, letting her have the crystal ball and the nighty. Catherine handed over the card.

"That's not part of this," she noted, handing the gift card back. She checked the nighty. "Neither's this." She handed it back. "Have you had other problems?"

"A hologram in my room while I was working on my accounting stuff, he fouled a pair of my shoes on me."

"Annoyance and learning tactics. Nick said he thought he saw him in town." He grimaced. "Okay. Let me take this back. When are you two coming back?"

"The usual time. It'd look odd otherwise." He glanced at the door. "I promised she'd be safe."

"She is. He's sending little digs at you right now. He knows it irritates you and you'd usually complain to mom." She patted him on the arm. "Behave, brother, it'll be fine. Nice meeting you, Catherine. Hopefully I'll be seeing you soon. I'll be transferring back to the school's main convent." She nodded at the adults, taking it with her. "The person who's chasing my mother is using this to irritate Tyler so he complains to mother so she'll come out of hiding. Nothing overly seriously, and he knows better than to try physically. He'll give up soon or I'll kick his butt myself." Her mother looked stunned and she fingered the blue veil. "I did graduate the school as well. I graduated pre-law." Her mother smiled at that. "I'm doing the restraining order. The nighty and the gift certificate aren't from him though. They're not his style. He's a tech person. He put a hologram in her room one night. He put a message in here to play over and over," she said, hefting the crystal ball. "I'm going to break this." She grabbed her cloak and put it back on, then headed out into the wintery afternoon.

"Wow, she's efficient," her father noted.

"She is," her mother agreed. "I know of them." She smiled at her daughter's room. "I'm much less concerned now. They'll take good care of their students. Plus, they've got some other schools. Maybe she'll get to move closer."

Tyler stuck his head out of the room. "Maybe London. Heard of White Knight?" She beamed and nodded. "My sister runs it and we'd think she'd be good there. That good with you?"

"Wonderful!" she said excitedly, hugging him. "Oh, that is just so perfect for her!" she agreed. "I know my first husband worked for them now and then. She'd love that." He nodded. "You can get her an interview?"

"They come in during our third year. I'm going to be working there, some of my brothers are already working there. I don't think that'll be a problem." She kissed him on the forehead. "Thanks, mom." He pulled back in and flopped down beside her. "She likes that idea."

Catherine wiped the lipstick off his forehead. "I can tell." He chuckled and hugged her.

***

That night, another conference happened, with Tish leading it. They were in the meeting room at White Knight this time and everyone but Sascha and Tyler were actually around the table. She had put the crystal ball in the center of the table so they could see it and someone else had brought the reports from the earlier shoe and hologram incidents. Everyone had a chance to look it over. "All right, know we know who his target is. He obviously knows who she is," Tish pointed out. "What is our plan?"

Nick leaned back in his chair, looking thoughtful. "Lucky guess?"

"Tyler handed me the wrapping to show me. It had her *full* name, including middle," Tish informed him.

"That means he's getting information from another source," Robbie pointed out. "Who?"

"Another student probably," Alexi offered. "They'd know the most about her except for her mother. Who would know where she lives?"

"It's easy enough to find if you know her name," Nick said, flicking his hand in the air. "Anything else?"

"Someone sent her lingerie for the holidays and Tyler was nearly frantic that it was him too. It didn't feel like his work though."

"So she's got multiple hunters?"

"Or an admirer, she is an impressive young woman," Alexi told them. "She's stated repeatedly that she's not ready to date yet however."

"Could it be a hometown admirer?" one of the older women at the table asked.

"Probably not. She said she wasn't leaving anyone behind when she came to school," Robbie told him.

William stood up, slapping the table. "I bet I know who it was. It's some disgusting pervert who wants to corrupt her and take her from us." Everyone stared at him in shock. "She is *our* bonded."

"Granted," Nick said with a hint of a smile. "Sit, William. No one's touching your bonded." He looked at the sister running the business above them. "Tyler said he thinks she'd do good here."

"Good. I knew her father, he did some work for me," she said, flipping back some blonde hair. "What's her area?"

"Business with a touch of the humanities," Robbie told her. "She's good at explaining them to us when we get confused."

"Then I could definitely use her in the political department," she agreed. "How are things at her home?"

"Tyler said her mother's going to file for divorce soon," Alexi said calmly. "Nick, he said we're moving downstairs again." Nick nodded, stroking the start of his new beard. "Don't do that. Shave, you look dumb with a beard, brother."

"Hush," he ordered. He looked at the rest of the table. "Does she do magic?" The Scruffy Ones present all shook their heads. "At all?"

"She's into fantasy novels, I'd assume she would have tried it by now," Alexi offered.

"Either that or she doesn't believe strongly enough," William pointed out. "She's more than firmly rooted in the present, no matter what she's reading. That is why she took our true nature so well though."

Nick grinned. "I heard." He looked at the older siblings. "What's the prophecy say?"

"That the bonded will fight him and win somehow at the last second," Valerian, a sister with dark, straight hair and lightened coffee-colored skin noted. She pushed some hair back behind her ear, showing off the scales that she had to hide, she could never manage to get her ears to change fully. "It's not a bad fight from what it says, just a strength of wills. It has nothing to say about mother, just that the person shared her name." Everyone groaned. "That's all we know so far."

"Then how do we protect that whole group?" Tish asked.

"I have no idea. If he knows her name he can find her," Nick noted. "The school will protect her. If her parents are getting divorced it might be good if she could take summer classes."

"Hopefully this won't last that long," another brother noted from the other end of the table. "Why can't we go take back mom? We did before!"

"We did and we lost a few of us," Nick said calmly. "Even if we wanted to, it wouldn't be right. She ordered us not to for a reason. We know she's all right because some of us have been looking for her each day. We can feel her. We can't see her but we can feel her and other than a few bruises she's fine so far. The problem with this is that if this new chosen is the only one who can get her free, I'm wondering how. She's not a warrior."

"She's strong-willed but she's not a warrior," Benton agreed grimly. He was one of the Scruffy Ones, but not part of the main core that she hung with every day.

"The prophecy said a contest of wills," Valerian reported. "Not a physical fight. How strong willed is she?"

"Very. She's ignoring all the pouting boys on her floor who want to date her. She announced she wasn't dating and she's kept to it so far, no matter how much some of the boys beg and plead for her attention. Homework help, help moving furniture, but not dating," Alexi told her. "Then again, some of them believe that she and Tyler are dating. He said her mother did in his last email."

"Tyler, dating?" Tish asked, looking confused.

"They're either dating and she doesn't realize it or they're very good friends," Nick said with a small smirk. "Then again, they could be dating and neither one know it. Who knows. The girl is smart, somewhat funny, and more than able to stand up to the usual bullies. She didn't even ask for help when they started, just ignored them and moved on until someone else caught them at it."

"So she's strong enough to win a contest of wills," Tish decided. "Good. How do we protect her from his next attempt?"

"Should we?" the guy at the other end asked. "We don't need to if she's going to kick his butt!"

"Yes, but that's not yet," Nick cautioned. "Did the prophecy have a date or a time sequence?"

"Flowers blooming."

"So spring," the boy noted. Everyone nodded. "That's not that far off." He looked around. "We'll need to back her up."

"She's our chosen," Robbie said firmly. "The Scruffy Ones always back up their own."

"Calm down," Nick sighed. "Fighting with him won't help any." He sat up. "He's doing annoyances now to irritate her. All it's doing is irritating Tyler. He said she was upset about the lingerie, but the crystal ball hasn't really gotten to her. If this is the level of his annoyances, then we shouldn't have a problem."

"Unless he's going through a student and having them help," Robbie noted calmly. Everyone at the table stared at him. "Think about it. How did he find her *full* name? Or even that she was American? All we know he's done is to look over her shoulder while she was doing some accounting work and to taint a crystal and a pair of shoes of hers."
"Shoes?" Valerian asked dryly. "He tainted her shoes?"

Alexi grinned and nodded. "Definitely. So far he's tried to watch her via a hologram over her shoulder, that incident with the shoes and the crystal, then this crystal ball. So he couldn't know her name unless he'd gotten into her school records."

"Tyler said he addressed it using her full name, including middle and her biological father's name," Robbie said thoughtfully. "We've got a spy in the school."

"Or more."

"Or more," Nick agreed. "Who?"

"Someone who knows her. I can almost bet one of the pranksters among the reds is a student working for him but how would he get her records?"

"There's not that many allowed in the records," Nick said thoughtfully. He looked at one of his brothers. "Your wife Marilyn. My secretary Syvette. Me. The sisters on the grading board only have limited access to this term's grades." He thought about it but no one else came up. "I'd vouch for the secretary. The mayor made her cry the other day and we know he's in with Roschene. We know I'm not because she's keeping Tyler from bugging me for research materials. That leaves someone sneaking in or the wife."

"She was talking to the mayor," Alexi told him. "That's why we called you to come up. We were sure he was trying to take over the school. He was the one who had the official coming up to get us shut down again."

"Interesting." He looked at the woman's husband, who sighed and shook his head. "Do you know your chosen or not?"

"I don't know anymore. She asked for the separation. She took my daughter with her and she's changed, I'm not allowed to see her anymore. I swear, she caught my tail out and around my little girl and she threw a fit, Nick! I don't know what to do."

Nick nodded. "We'll figure that out. Feel free to sue her for custody." He looked at the others. "Any other ideas? I'm out."

"We could move her to the lower rooms," Tish offered. "It'd protect her."

"It's already in the works for next year," Nick assured her. "Tyler requested the big suite with that extra room that used to go to trainers for her use since she's the only girl."

"Sascha spends a lot of time in female form around her," William told him. "She's probably been female the whole holiday so far."

"Wonderful. She needed work on that side of her gifts," Tish agreed. "I didn't see her while I was there but then again she's at that age where she'll sleep forever if you let her. Tyler looked happy enough and she had books spread all around her room. Tyler's found a book nerd like himself." The others laughed, knowing very well about Tyler's reading habits. "Anyone watching his purchases?"

"He's spent five hundred and some at the local bookstore so far, plus some gift certificates. I called to check on the status of his order with them and they said he didn't have one," Brad informed them. He had come in to do the monetary fund lectures.

"It's a well-stocked chain store," Tish noted. "I've been in there before. When is he due back?"

"The people there didn't know, but they remembered the sale. They said it was mostly philosophy books." Most of the table groaned. "Some alternative religions. His companion spent the better part of three hundred dollars with a discount card and they're expecting her back in a few days time with her new gift card."

Nick broke out in loud laughs. "Yes, Tyler's found someone exactly like him," he agreed happily. "Celia is going to hate her books."

"I'm sure she'll get over it," William snorted. "She's usually only in her room anyway. She's got a few boyfriends, including Tyler."

"Did your chosen mind?"

"No," Robbie said dryly, smirking at them. "She's said quite firmly and often that she's not ready to date yet." Everyone gaped. "During the inspection she told Celia she didn't care who she slept with but that she might want to stop then since their room was being looked through."

"Gods, and Tyler's doing that to her roommate while his chosen is reading? That's going to be a relationship to watch," Nick said dryly, smirking at the others. "Looks like he's finally met his match." He cleared his throat. "How do we best protect her?"

"For right now, let's add a few more of us as temporary teachers."

"That's fine. We've had one of you come in for business lessons. Thank you for that, Brad. What did you think of her?"

"Smart with a smart mouth. Believes in women's lib. Thinks she can get by on her skills. Didn't take crap from the other students. I want her with us."

"Tyler's already mentioned it and she thought it was a great idea," Robbie told him.

William smirked at him. "Think you can handle her in your department?"

"She's going to political," the head over White Knight said firmly. "Tyler can go to the social sciences. You, Benton, and Alexi are going to business, Robbie. Alexi, you can temp in computers. William, you'll be in weapons for now. Want ancient or modern?"

"Modern please. I also do pretty well with her clothes."

"Then date her sister, she's a beauty pageant queen," Robbie told him. William looked stunned. "Seriously. Tyler said so. She's got many titles up to the state level in her old age group, now she's just passed into the new one."

"No, thanks, really," William said, shaking his head. "I could never be with someone like that. Just because I like helping Kitten with formal events, doesn't mean I want to help some vapor headed beauty queen."

"She's not really," Robbie told him. "Tyler said she does have some sense, she's just thin on using it on occasion. Then again, she's fourteen, it's normal." He looked at the others. "Are we done? I'm hungry."

Nick looked around and everyone shrugged. "Fine, we'll leave it in mine and Tyler's lap. We're done, go find something to eat, Robbie."

"Anyone else want fast food? I was going out for tacos," he offered. A few more people wrote down orders and handed it to him with money. "Be right back. Nick, I'm taking your car of course." He hurried off before Nick could say anything.

"I'll get him for that yet," Nick noted. The others laughed.

William sat up. "That's right, you get to teach me and kitten how to drive soon."

Nick's eyes went wide. "No. There's no way I'm teaching either of you to drive. Combustion engines are foul and not for people like you, William, use a horse."

"Kitten's one of those that all horses hate," Alexi said smugly. "All of them ran once one of them saw her. You'll have to change her schedule." Nick groaned, shaking his head. "Seriously. She won't let any horse near her and they all hate her and run when they smell her. You won't get her on a horse."

"What happens if Tyler has to change?" Tish asked. "She won't be able to ride him."

"Tyler will probably show her how," William said smugly. "Guys, she's got a birthday coming up in a month. We need to deal with that." Everyone nodded, marking it on their calendars. She was probably going to be one of the family soon enough, she could get to know them now and see how much trouble she'd be in later.

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