"Were you guys talking about me?" Salem asks from behind, and both boys turn, surprised that Say came back. "You know, it's not nice to gossip."

"Neither is eavesdropping," adds Cas.

"And it's not nice to never smile," Toph responds. "It'll give you wrinkles and shorten your life span. Ask Mr. Goryn."

"Ask the immortal about shortening a lifespan?" Salem asks, "And I thought running over a dog while driving to the vet was ironic. Why are we heading to Culinary Arts? None of us know how to cook."

Isn't that the point of a Culinary Arts class?

"Cas made a new friend without us. We're going to go meet her," Topher says with a little skip in his step.

"Why?" Salem wrinkles his nose.

"Because we want to, you grumpy pants," Topher answers. "The more friends we have, the merrier, and if there's a fourth one of us, none of us will have to sit alone on a roller coaster."

"I'm not going on a roller coaster," states Cas. He is incredibly scared of roller coasters. Remy has immense joy teasing him about it.

"We'll get back to that," Topher says, tapping Cas' shoulder. Cas frowns.

"You stupid, no good piece of dough!" Ara screams just as the boys enter the room. She has oven mittens on and her hair tied in a ribbon that matched her eyes. "I told you, I wanted creamy and chewy cookies, and this is what I get? Some plain, average cookies? BAKE BETTER!" She throws the pan of cookies across the room where they land in a cluttering mess in the corner. Then the corner combusts, and there's a small fire. It scorches the wall and surrounding cupboards. Ara curses, "Not again."

"I like her," Salem says.

Topher and Cas give him a look.

"Cas! You're here!" Ara exclaims once she's not alone. She comes to greet them, and she completely forgets about the fire in the corner. Luckily, the Culinary Arts teacher is used to Arabelle's antics and rigged the room to be fireproof. Don't ask how, but the fire deteriorates in seconds.

"Sorry about that," Ara rubs her neck awkwardly, "the cookies weren't listening. The chips were too hard and the dough was too salty. I made these cookies flawless and they had the audacity to betray me like that...Who are you?"

"These are my..." Is it too early to call them friends? They're the closest thing to friends Cas has, so it's not like he's an expert on them. "...friends, Salem and Christopher."

"Call me Topher. It's only Christopher when I'm in trouble."

"And you? Do you have a nickname?" Ara asks Salem.

"Salem's two syllables; how short do you need it to be?"

"Call him Say," Toph interjects.

"You do, and I stab you in the jugular."

"Which is how Say says 'nice to meet you,'" Topher translates.

"Well, that's...contradicting," notes Ara.

Salem gives a bow, "I try to be as confusing as I can. Is it working?"

Eight

"Wait...you made friends?" Remy asks on the phone a few hours later. Cas is sitting on his bed with his homework surrounding him. Remy's on the speaker a few feet away from him.

"Yes, why are you so surprised about this?" Cas asks, rolling his eyes.

"Because, no offense, but you suck at socializing, and you aren't exactly the coolest guy in the bunch."

"Jee, thanks for your support."

"Anytime, Big Bro," she says, happily. "Hey, do you remember Brooke? The girl in my class?"

"Blonde hair? Brown eyes? Wears too much make-up?"

"Bingo. Anyway, today we got a new student, and she was all over him! She wouldn't let anyone around him. You know why? Because she's a vulture! She's a beady-eyed, long-necked, bald-headed bird that feeds off of dead bodies."

"That's extensive," is Cas' response.

"It's disgusting. If you really like the guy, wouldn't you want him to, you know, breathe?"

"Breathing is overrated, anyway."

"It's a necessary part of life, Caspian."

Ash walks into the dorm room at this time and shuffles out of his school blazer.

"Hey, Rem," says Cas, "I have to go, I love you."

"Do not forget to call me tomorrow! I swear if you do, I'll drive up there myself."

"Bye, Remy."

"Oh, right. Bye. Love you."

"Your girlfriend sounds a bit needy," Ash says after Cas hangs up. He's changing into more comfortable clothes, but he takes a second to pet Lylir's head from where he's laying on Ash's bed.

"She's not my girlfriend," Cas sighs.

"No? Did you get dumped?"

Cas looks at him suspiciously, "Why do you think It's me getting dumped in a relationship?"

Ash looks Cas up and down, "Is that really a question?"

Cas scowls, "And no, it wasn't any love interest I was talking to. It was my sister."

"You talk to your sister?"

"Yes? Don't you?"

"My sister tried to kill me when I was seven. We aren't close."

Cas blinks, "Any other siblings?"

"Other than her? I have four."

"You have five siblings?"

"I actually have seven, but the oldest two I've never particularly liked."

"So you're a middle child?"

"I'm the youngest."

"So...how old are your parents?"

Ash looks at Cas and notices the wide-eyed wonder that goes along with Cas' curiosity. To Ash, Cas' eyes are forest green, and he'd never say this out loud, but Ash is rather envious of them.