Kaderra Academy ?

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. Rain rolled down the window, turning the outside world into a grey, blurry mess.

"Mara's just called training off," Luke announced, flopping down next to me with a huff. "Apparently, the weather's only going to get worse. Guess we're stuck here." He sounded about as thrilled as I felt.

"If this keeps up, the weekend's gonna be a total drag," he sighed, rolling back onto the bed. "Wanna go watch a movie?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said it's going to get worse out there?"

Without warning, or a reply, he jumped up and grabbed my arm, yanking me out of my sleepy haze against my will. Seriously, it was like he just remembered we were late for something, though he'd never actually cared that much about being late.

"We can go to mine! I've still got a room there, don't I? We'll hide out until the rain stops. Mum won't mind."

I hesitated, looking at him like he'd lost it. "You sure it's a good idea? What if we get stuck in this downpour?"

Luke wasn't having it. So, having already made up his mind, he tossed me my hoodie and grabbed my hand, dragging me down the hall before I even had the chance to pull it over my head. "Come on, it's better than being cooped up in the dorm. If we leg it now, we'll make it before the weather turns biblical."

***

Coco greeted us at the door with a shriek of excitement, throwing herself at Luke like he wasn't absolutely drenched from head to toe. I half expected her to spring off of him like a bouncy ball but instead she stuck to him like he was covered in glue.

We made our way to the kitchen, where Luke's mum, Lara, looked up and smiled warmly as she beckoned us inside. "Hey sweetheart. What brings you two here?" she asked, pulling a bowl of what looked to be popcorn out of the microwave.

"We were hoping we could stay the weekend, just until the rain lets up. We're bored out of our minds in the dorm. No tv, nothing." Luke gave her his best puppy-dog look.

She chuckled and ruffled his soaking hair. "No tv, eh? Whatever will you do?" she teased. "Lucky for you, there's still one upstairs in your old room. Me and Coco are watching Snow White down here, and I doubt you two fancy that."

Luke's face twisted into a grimace. "Definitely not," he muttered, before bolting out of the room to grab some DVDs like a kid in a sweet shop.

"He seems more himself," Lara noted, watching him dash away.

"Hasn't he come by lately or called you?" I asked.

She shook her head, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "No, but I'm not surprised. Luke doesn't like showing when he's struggling. Thinks if we can't see it, we won't worry. But it just makes us worry more, you know?" Her eyes lingered on the door where Luke had vanished. "He's always been bad at sharing what's on his mind."

It wasn't long before Luke reappeared with a pile of DVDs. He barely spared his mum a glance before he grabbed my arm again and dragged me upstairs into a room that looked like it had been frozen in time.

His bedroom was ridiculously tidy, like it hadn't seen human life in years just with less spiders and cobwebs. Still, not a speck of dust anywhere, a sign that Lara made sure everything was ready for whenever Luke popped home.

"Right, we've got Pulp Fiction, Lord of the Rings, or James Bond." Luke beamed, holding up the DVDs with a grin like they were treasures he'd just uncovered.

I laughed. "You don't get to watch many films, do you?

He shook his head. "Nah, now pick one."

"Well, I've never seen Lord of the Rings..."