Andreis was dragged by both arms out into the center of the library where the others were waiting. Eric sat in a large chair, one long leg crossed over the other as he watched him be brought before him. Andreis was shoved to his knees before Eric like a peasant begging for his life in front of king's throne. Kian grabbed Andreis by the hair and jerked his head up, forcing him to meet Eric's pale blue gaze. Andreis thought he might be imagining it but he could have sworn that Eric was smiling ever so slightly. He spoke in his normal whisper of a voice when he talked to him.

"Ah, mister Emsworth. I had a feeling we would be meeting again."

"We caught him hiding behind one of the bookshelves. Who knows how much he heard," Kian snapped, he gave Andreis a wayward glare before he turned to the others. "What do you say we do? I think we should chase him out of the school." Fitz nodded, scowling.

"Sounds like a good plan to me."

"Wait." Eric raised a hand and the group fell silent. He stood up slowly and the other boys watched him intensly. Eric walked over to Andreis before he kneeled beside him and dipped a finger under his chin, tilting his face up. After a moment he drew back, returning to his feet. He was silent a beat and then he finally gave a small nod.

"I think that we should give him a test."

"What?" Kian all but snarled. Audible sounds of surprise erupted from the other boys. Fitz stepped forward.

"Pardon me saying this Eric but...are you serious? This boy doesn't fit any of our criteria. He's small and scrawny with not a single accomplishment at St.James to his name. He doesn't exceed in his classes or contribute to the schools clubs or even make the slightest smudge of an impression on anyone that meets him minus the sorry state of his hair." Andreis ignored this heavy fire of insults from Fitz and instead bowed his head to Eric.

"Give me a chance to take the test. I promise I can do it."

"No." Kian and Fitz said at the same time. Eric shook his light blonde head.

"I think he might have potential."

"Eric he was spying on us. How could you want someone like that in our club," Kian said, crossing his arms. His eyes suddenly narrowed. "Besides...who knows how much of our conversation he was listening to-"

"I have made my decision," Eric said softly. He gestured to Andreis to come forward and he did. "These are the conditions. You will take the test. If you fail it you will leave this school tonight and never have contact with anyone here ever again."

"But how will I explain that to my parents-"

"That is my offer, you will not get another. You will either accept it or leave this room now." He shouldn't do it...this was a terrible idea...yet the words left his mouth almost the moment after Eric spoke.

"I accept." Eric nodded. There was an uncomfortable silence between the other boys. Eric slowly stood up. "Follow me." He began to move towards the library door and Andreis followed, the others remained behind. As he stepped out he was met by the slight chill of the October air. Eric took him by the arm and began to move.

"Where are we headed?" Andreis asked meekly.

"Off campus. Not far. It is only a 30 minute walk." Andreis would be lying to himself if he thought he wasn't scared. Despite the fact that it was dark Eric had brought no flashlight, despite this he seemed to know exactly where he was going.

"Did everyone in the club take this test?" Andreis asked, hating the way his voice trembled slightly when he spoke. Eric nodded.

"In a way. Everyone had to take a test. It is different depending on the person."

"Could you give me like...err...an example?" He laughed nervously. "I'm just kind of curious." Eric nodded again.

"Yes. Robert had three parakeets that were his favorite pets. He loved them so much he even convinced his father to get the school board to bend the rules on allowing pets in the building. For his test he needed to kill all three of them with his bare hands and eat them raw." Andreis swallowed hard, he felt like puking. After what seemed to Andreis like hours of walking in silence they finally arrived at a large metal tower like structure. It once had probably been the internal structure of some big building that had never been finished and had just been abandoned and left to rot for years. Just the skeleton of it remained, rusting beams reaching into the moonlit sky like a bony arm protruding from the ground. Eric glanced to it and then back to Andreis.

"Climb it." Andreis's stomach dropped, he felt like he was going to faint. Heights...he hated heights. And this thing...it looked like it was ready to fall apart at any moment. He turned to face Eric slowly.

"What if I fall and die?"

"Then that is your problem." Andreis's hands were shaking, he could hardly think straight.

"This isn't safe..."

"As I said before, that is not my problem. It is yours. You said you wished to do this and I stuck my neck out for you for this opportunity. You climb or you leave, it is as simple as that." Andreis took a deep breath.

"Okay..." He took a few steps forward before he glanced back to Eric.

"All the way to the top?"

"Yes." It was a stupid question but he was desperate for anything to delay this. Still shaking he gripped onto the metal pulling himself up to the first beam. It creaked under his weight and it took everything Andreis had to bite back the bile that was threatening to rise up out of his mouth. He continued to climb, his entire body shaking. His hands felt sweaty and clammy as he continued to move. He took another deep breath. He could do this, he just needed to be careful and not look down. He continued to climb. At some points the metal would shift slightly when he would lift himself up and the feeling made him want to puke. He looked up now, he was almost there, he was so close to the top. Then, he very stupidly glanced down. Eric looked so small from up there...he was so fucking high up. Suddenly his head was spinning and when he tried to grab the next beam his grip slipped and he lost his footing. His blood ran cold and he desperately grabbed for the beam above him. He only barely managed to latch onto it, finally pulling himself up. His heart was pounding and his legs felt like jello but somehow, someway he was able to pull himself up to the last shaft. He had done it, he was at the top. There was a faint sound from below him and Andreis was met with the realization that Eric was clapping. A sudden swell of pride filled his chest. The Eric Marshall was clapping...for him. He had done it. Slowly he made his way down, being extremely careful, and finally he lowered himself to the ground. His legs felt like they were ready to give out from under him and his pulse was still racing be he didn't care anymore. Eric nodded when he finally approached him and offered his hand.

"Congratulations-" Andreis was so happy that instead of going in for the handshake he pulled Eric into a tight hug. To his surprise after a beat Eric hugged back. When he spoke he used the same quiet volume as always yet to Andreis it felt like a secret being whispered for only him to know.

"I knew from the moment I saw you that you could make it into the club."

------

When they re-entered the library together Andreis was met by a series of glares from the other boys.

"Fucking Christ, the wimp actually made it?" Kian practically hissed. Bentlee chuckled turning to Fitz.

"I believe you owe me $40." Fitz rolled his eyes, digging around in his pockets for a moment before begrudgingly handing Bentlee two twenties. Bentlee turned to Andreis now.

"You know, he's actually not that bad looking. I think if he lost the glasses and we change up his hair he has potential to be quite the stunner." Eric nodded, glancing to Bentlee.

"Good. Bring him to your room after the meeting and fix him up. We can not present him to the school as a member of the White Rose club looking like this." His gaze fell to Norman now. "Can you explain the rules to him?" Norman nodded.

"Right, okay so as you probably know, out of the entirety of the student body you can only talk and associate with other members of the White Rose club. The only exception is your roommate. Like, we get it, you're going to have to talk to your roommate eventually whether it be asking them to clean up their shit or asking them to leave for a couple hours so you can take the headmaster's daughter up to your room for a little fun when he brings her to visit." Robert glared at him.

"Hey, that was one time!" Norman just laughed before continuing on.

"Next, you have to come to meetings every Friday, join at least one other school club or activity, stay with members of the White Rose club during any free time you might have and during mass, never EVER speak of anything that is discussed during club meetings and finally...do at least one hour of community service around the school each week." He glanced around at the others. "Am I missing anything?" Bentlee shrugged.

"He has to keep his grades and appearance up. Other then that I think you covered it all." Eric nodded.

"Well, I know we did not get to do much today due to the unexpected interruption tonight but I am pleased that we have a new member. The meeting is adjourned." His hand slipped into his pocket now and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, he removed one, holding it between two long slim fingers. He didn't even open his mouth before every single boy around him had held up an open lighter. He lit his cigarette on one of them before bringing it to his lips slowly, a slight smile on his face. "Thank you. Have a good night everyone and stay safe. Who knows what dangers lurk about at night on the school grounds with the Wakefield ripper on the loose." The boys nodded before one by one they turned to leave. As Andreis turned to move towards the door Fitz brushed past him and whispered softly,

"You can try as hard as you like to fit in by you will never be one of us."