Fire extinguisher! Where did he see the fire extinguisher? Luka looked around to find the canister. Ah, it was near the emergency exit door. 

As he sprinted toward the emergency exit door, he screamed, "Fiiiiiiiirrree!" 

Finlay who just stood by the hallway rushed to get to the kitchen while other kids came out of their rooms one by one and just peered over. A door near the kitchen was opened, just one meter in front of Finlay. Someone came out. It was a tiny girl in a pink strawberry pajama with a bow tying up her front part of her dark brown hair. Finlay was just going to tell her to get back to her room when he noticed what she was holding. 

A green stick with a glass ball on top of it, filled with tiny glowing dots. 

However it looked like, it's a stick. 

Luka came from behind with a fire extinguisher in his hand. He also stopped as he watched the girl mumbling and flicking her fancy stick. Suddenly, the fire stretched like a ribbon, pulled and controlled by the stick. She made a circle with her stick and the fire spiraled, following the movement of her hand. She kept circling and circling until the fire became smaller and smaller and disappeared into thin air. 

The girl stood erect, facing the stove. Just when Luka thought it was over, she opened her arms, and the smoke was cleared. The gust even almost made Luka sway back. 

The girl turned around. Her mono-lidded eyes stared at Luka and he swore the fire had moved into them. "Please keep your voice down," she hissed. "I'm trying to study." 

"I'm so..." Luka didn't get to finish his words because the girl just walked out of the kitchen. Finlay politely stepped aside when she came closer to him, so did other kids who came out to see what was happening. Before she entered her room, Luka shouted, "Thank you!" 

Luka came into the kitchen. He put the fire extinguisher on the floor and checked his bacon. It's burnt to ashes. He dumped it into the bin, washed the pan and put back all the stuffs he didn't get to use. 

Finlay pulled a chair and sat there in silence. 

"That was quite scary," Luka washed his hands. "Thank God no one gets hurt. Did you see that girl? That was one hell of a way to put out fire. Must be doing that all her... What's wrong? You look shocked." 

Finlay’s green eyes were empty. He stuttered, "I t-t-think... I'm in l-l-love." 

Luka paused whatever he was doing. "What? With that girl?" 

Finlay slowly nodded. 

"Look, I'd love to help, but I’m the worst choice of a wingman, honestly. So I'm just gonna cheer for you from the distance. And keep an eye on her, maybe, if you want me to do so. But hey, good for you. Having a crush at school will always be a good motivation." 

"Good for me? I'm dead, Luka!" 

"Why?" 

"Are ye blind? Can't ya see what she was holding?" 

"Crazy ass Sailor Moon-ish scepter, I know. Gerda has like six of 'em." 

"It's a lightstick... I mean, it's a wand! She's a witch!" 

"So?" 

"And I'm a fairy!" 

"Which means?"  

Finlay grabbed Luka's t-shirt and pulled him down so he could scream on his ear, "Witches and warlocks hate fairies!" 

"Oh," Luka's eyebrows raised. "Well, that's terrible." 

"That's why they live up here with you, while I live down there with the vampires." 

"Wait, what? Your fairy friend lives here, doesn't he? The one you're visiting?"  

"Who, Murrough? He's a merman." 

"Aren't merfolks supposed to live in Lake Pavlopetri?" 

"He’s a freshwater merman who lives in Dublin. He doesn’t need Lake Pavlopetri.”  

"Oh. Okay." 

Finlay looked so terrified and smitten at the same time that Luka couldn't help but pity him. He pulled a chair and sat in front of him. 

"I thought fairies are the most lovable beings," uttered Luka. "Like there's no way people can hate fairies." 

"We make deals, remember?" replied Finlay. "We fecking twist the words and use it against the wishmakers. There's also a price for every wish. We don't just grant wishes. Unconditional wish fulfillments are only for those who have the pure of heart.”

“What’s with all the hate?” Luka jutted his chin.  

"Historically, the first of their kind wished for the power of magic. The fairies granted the wish but it's nothing like the fairy's magic. They need tools and spells to make magic works and it's a bloody feckin' pain in the arse. The way they mumble the spells made others think that they pray to Satan, hence the witch hunt and all. They feel betrayed. That's why they hate us. 

"Fairies hate them too, because fairies think that they are ungrateful. Fairies kind of regret it as well because now we can't make deals with them anymore." 

This new fact opened Luka's mind. It's disappointing how the supernatural world was not so different than the ordinary world. It was filled with so much hatred. First the werewolves and vampires, now fairies and witches. Harmony is indeed a difficult state to achieve, even to those who had unimaginable powers to make it happen. 

"Remind me never to wish anything from you," Luka teased Finlay. 

"I'm not a threat to you," answered Finlay. "Once I graduate, I'll work for the council. The council has rules and codes. It's the unlicensed fairies that you should be afraid of." 

"Unlicensed fairies. This gets so craz... I need to go to sleep." 

Ditching his plan to have a late-night snack, Luka went to bed while Finlay caught up with his friends. 

On the next day, Luka rescheduled his classes with the help of his student advisor. He managed to transfer to three other classes so he didn’t have to share one with Raoul d’Auvrecher, although the advisor advised against it. His schedule was a mess, but he’s guaranteed not to meet that insufferable vampire throughout the semester.

Once his day was over, Luka submitted his application form on Rush Week page through the app. Not long after, an email came in informing him about his group number and the time he had to show up for house visit. It also disclosed the proper clothes he should be wearing as well as the etiquette and rules. 

Saturday came. Luka prepared himself for the house visit. Though Kjell had introduced him to Wayne, he still needed to impress the other boys to secure a bid. Besides, he wanted to check out the other fraternities in case they could be a better fit for him.

Castor practiced his human disguise studies by helping Luka get dressed. There was not much to choose from Luka’s limited wardrobe, but he managed to pull off a blue shirt with rolled sleeves, cream chino pants, matching brown belts and shoes, complete with his family heirloom: the silver Audemars Piguet watch. Ariane stopped by just give approval of his looks. Then, Castor even offered to give him a lift, but Luka politely turned it down, telling him that he needed the walk to get there.

As he cruised on the Main Lane, his hair was miraculously pulled back, giving a clearer view of his face. He touched his hair. It was still as puffy as it used to be, but it was held together as if he was wearing grease. He looked around and found Finlay strolled by with his friends. He blew the green smoke that came out of his pointer finger. Luka chuckled and bowed, expressing his thanks. 

He arrived at the Greek Avenue name sign. There were around thirty guys and girls flocking around a man who was sitting on a folded chair, telling those kids to be patient.  Although they appeared nothing alike, they all dressed to the nines. Luka was so grateful that Castor helped him with his outfit so he didn’t look so shabby.  

While observing, he noticed the shoes of the only guy with a pair of black studded earrings who was typing on his phone. The shoelaces were untied. 

"Um, dude," he called him. He did not expect the guy to glance at him with a blue eye on the left and a brown eye on the right. "Your shoelaces are loose." 

The guy checked on his shoe and went back on his phone, totally ignoring what Luka said. But then, the shoelaces rose on its own and tied itself in a perfect knit. Was that magic or this guy was so rich that he had a pair of self-tying shoes? 

"Thanks." 

The word just popped inside Luka's mind that he almost jolted. The guy with the magic shoelaces were still on his phone. He didn't even look at him. 

What the hell? Who's talking? Did he just catch a talking parasite inside his body? Did a ghost just pass by and whatever Luka was doing somehow helped him? 

While Luka's thoughts were filled with confusion, the guy with different eye colors laughed. He put his phone in his pocket and turned to him. 

"It was me," the voice sounded back in Luka's head. He looked up to the guy. The guy winked. "Now don't worry, I can't read mind. I can only communicate through mind. You can keep whatever dirty thoughts you have to yourself." 

Oh shit. 

"Yeah, I can hear that too," the guy raised his round eyebrows. "Anything original you wanna say to me?" 

Luka paused, then he thought back, "Could he be... hey, I'm sorry, but do you have speech impairment?" 

"I'm not mute, you dumbass," the guy suddenly spoke up, nearly yelled. 

Luka was as surprised as everyone else in the group. The guy grinned to them, "Sorry, sorry. I didn't know I was gonna be that loud." 

Once the other guys ignored them, the mind talking guy whispered to Luka, "That was quite original, actually. Let's have a proper conversation. Hi, I'm Matthew Jones, son of Nicholas Jones of Midorexa Corporations, co-founder of BuzzMe app."