"I still think it's freaking stupid."

"Oh, no surprise there."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know exactly what it means, Overland."

"No, no, please explain to me in excessive detail what it is you mean."

Toothiana put down her turkey sandwich and glared at her bickering friends. Jackson and Aster were always like this, constantly going back and forth. It had to be exhausting, but they still never failed to argue. "Will you give it a rest? We're all trying to eat in peace over here."

Nic nodded thankfully, sighing as he picked up his can of soda. Sandy simply rested his head in his hands and watched, knowing that this wouldn't be the end of it.

They could only wish, right?

"Oh, come on, Tooth! You've got to admit you think it's stupid too. Only one off-campus lunch every month- what a joke! I didn't make it this far in high school just to have my privileges taken away!" Jackson responded, shooting a fiery glare at the Australian he'd been arguing with.

"No, she doesn't. Why? Because she's sensible. She knows that the school is just trying to keep us safe. Right, Tooth?" Aster's green eyes met Toothiana's oddly violet ones in a plea of agreement. He couldn't be the only one that was fine with the new policy. Tooth had to understand.

But Toothiana just blinked and looked away. "I think that we should just stop thinking about it and go about our day. That's what I think."

Jackson smirked in victory, crossing his arms over his blue hoodie. "You were saying, Kangaroo?"

Aster threw down the fork in his hand and pointed at Jackson threateningly. "Listen here, you bloody show pony-"

"Aster! Calm down friend!" Nicolas cut in, throwing his arms up. "And Jackson, you know Aster does not like pet name. Stop using it."

"Ugh, it's not a pet name. It is annoying, though. That's for damn sure." Aster retorted, going back to his food.

It was quiet for a few moments, everyone silently eating their lunch. Sandy sighed and shook his head, thankful that everyone had finally stopped their bantering. It happened almost every day since freshman year, when Jackson first joined their little circle of friends.

Nicolas, Aster, Sandy, and Toothiana all first started hanging together in seventh grade because of a class project in their English class. They belonged to their own little groups of friends at the time, but none of them really clicked like they did when they were working together. They were all best friends by the time they'd made it to high school and when Toothiana noticed that the new kid was sitting by himself for the third week in a row at lunch, she decided to intervene.

And that's how Jackson ended up being their newest addition.

"Wait, do you really think it's stupid, Tooth?" Aster asked.

Everyone in the group groaned, not happy with Aster's relentless question.

Tooth looked at Aster through narrowed eyes. She wasn't usually this peeved. She liked to think she was a bubbly, happy person. But this topic of conversation was definitely pushing it. "Aster, really?"

"I just wanna know!"

Toothiana wiped her sweaty bangs away from her forehead and ran a hand through her hair. The guys always insisted on sitting outside, even when it was almost ninety degrees out, just like it was that day. She frowned as some of the yellow, pink, and blue hair dye rubbed off on her hands. Keeping her eyes on her hair, she answered in a small voice, "Well. Uh. Yeah. I do."

Jackson threw a fist in the air, whooping, "Bingo! Told y-"

"But!" Toothiana interrupted, giving Jackson a rather stern look. "That doesn't mean I'm going to gripe about it. The school has made their decision. And as much of a sucky decision it is, we've got to deal with it. Besides- we're juniors! Only two more years and we're out of here!"

Nicolas grinned, "That is right! We are two weeks into junior year! It is too soon to start complaining."

Sandy, now content with the new view on the conversation, nodded and signed, "I agree."

"Speaking of decisions-" Toothiana turned back to Aster, who was now smiling in the slightest bit, and brought up his job offer. "Did you take up on the Natural Science Center's offer?"

Aster had received a letter in the mail, explaining how the Natural Science Center got a recommendation from his biology teacher the year before about his interest in botany. They said that since he was now legally old enough he could look into a getting a job there, and if he was interested he could come by and speak with the head scientist of the botany department. He'd went the week before and spoken to Dr. Henders, who gladly offered him a job as an assistant of sorts in her lab. However, Aster was hesitant about taking the job, as his junior year looked to be his busiest yet.

"Aw, Tooth, you know how crazy things are going to be this year." Aster replied.

Jackson ran a hand through his brown hair, shutting his eyes, "Did you seriously turn down a job offer? Man, I need a job. If you don't want it, see if they'll take me." He laughed as he said this, just imagining himself making an attempt at fully understanding science.

"Too bad, Overland. You'll have to keep searching." Aster beamed.

Toothiana lit up with excitement for her friend. "You took the job?" she exclaimed.

Aster nodded, "Sure did. I figured that if I'm going to be doing this someday I might as well get a firsthand look at it. I start tomorrow."

Tooth squealed and patted him on the shoulder, "Oh, I'm so happy for you! That's great!"

Aster was excited too. When he received the letter, he was so hesitant about just going to the Natural Science Center in the first place. They let people tour their labs during the summer, and Aster visited it quite often. The people that worked there were always nice and willing to answer any questions he had. It was only during the school year that they were closed to the public, and now Aster would be working on the inside.

He couldn't wait to tell his geology teacher, Mr. Moon, about his new job.

Jackson nudged the taller boy as they walked through Mr. Moon's door that afternoon. "You gonna tell him?"

"Calm down, Overland. We just walked in." Aster told him.

He and Jackson could be good friends when they wanted to. It was only when their attitudes got the best of them both when they had problems. After all, if they constantly hated each other North, Sandy, and Tooth would get tired of it pretty quickly.

Mr. Moon sat at his desk, going over some work from his previous class when Aster approached him. He was one of the best teachers in the school, but also one of the strangest looking ones. His hair and beard were pure white, even though he couldn't be more than forty-five years old, and his eyes were such a dark blue that they looked black from a distance.

"Hey, Mr. Moon. I've got some great news for you." Aster said, leaning over his teacher's desk.

Mr. Moon looked up at the two teenagers in front of him. "Hello Aster. Hello Jackson. What is this good news?"

"Aster here got a job!" Jackson announced, earning an unamused look from Aster.

"Oh, really? Where at Aster? I trust you'll be doing something you love." Mr. Moon smiled.

"The Natural Science Center." Aster replied, turning back to his teacher.

The older man's smile faltered for just a moment as he recalled the name. "Oh." He said absently.

Aster and Jackson were caught off-guard at his response. Shouldn't he be happy about it? Aster was one of his best students and he was pursuing his interest in science.

"Uh…" Aster gave Jackson a confused look. Jackson shrugged in reply, clearly not understanding either. "Yeah. You know, it's on the other side of town and-"

"Yes, yes I know." Mr. Moon paused, swallowing thickly before going on. "Aster," he began in a low voice. "There is a man there. A former colleague of mine. We worked together in the geology department many, many years ago. You must not cross his path. He's dangerous."

Aster's eyebrows knit together. Dangerous? Why would a dangerous man work at a science facility? "Mr. Moon, what do you mean?"

"He is very obsessive with his work and he doesn't like to be meddled with. Just stay out of his way and you should be fine." Mr. Moon told him.

Jackson cut in, his own curiosity welling up. "Who is he?"

Mr. Moon sighed. He hadn't ever planned on talking about any of this again. At least it wasn't to the extent he feared it would be.

"He's the head scientist of the geology department. His name is Kozmotis Pitchiner."