Chapter 8: Studies

Rico opened the door mere moments after Dawn knocked. She grinned and gave him a quick kiss. "You were waiting for me."

He laughed. "Well, sure. It's not like you took that long to get here."

They walked over to his bed, where he had his computer set up the same way as last night--on the chair, with the Lord of the Rings movie ready to go. As they sat down, she thought of the discussion she had just been having with her friends about the faeries. She knew it was hard for people to remember when they were told about the faeries, but what did Rico remember? He'd actually been there when they rescued Annie. "Hey, I want to ask you something," she said as he was leaning over to press play.

He turned his head to look at her. "Sure, what?"

"Do you remember what we did last weekend?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Of course. How could I forget? I mean, I guess it's kind of blurry, but..." He shrugged. "I saw some weird things."

"You didn't actually see the faeries, though," Dawn prompted.

"No. Why?"

He wasn't surprised. So he remembered the faeries, just not much about them. They'd have to find him a four-leaf clover too; she definitely wanted him to be protected. "I was just wondering how much you remembered. There seems to be some kind of spell that makes people forget about the faeries. It doesn't affect me, because I have the Sight, but it affects other people."

He leaned back again and gave her a one-armed hug. "You look worried. Don't be."

She shook her head, though she really was worried. "We brought you, so they know you exist and know about them, but you didn't really see anything."

"You'll just have to protect me, then."

She laughed. "I will."

He kissed her, then turned the movie on and they settled down to watch it. When the movie was over, they went up to Corrie and Edie's room, but no one was home; they'd probably gone to dinner, but Dawn didn't see them in the dining hall, so she and Rico ate alone. She would have suggested looking for a four-leaf clover on their way back, but by then it was dark. Another time, she told herself firmly. They weren't likely to run into any faeries tonight, especially if they stayed in, as she definitely intended to do.

"Did you get any posters today?" she asked when they returned to his room. "I'll help you put them up."

He shook his head. "I didn't go to the poster sale. Too cheap, I guess. I can live with the blank walls."

"But it's so boring!" she protested. She sighed and leaned against his shoulder, realizing that she had a busy day ahead of her. "I had better get some homework done. I have to work tomorrow and I want to go to the club sign-up thing with Corrie and Edie. Want to come up to my room and study with me?"

"Sure," he said. "Will Naomi be there?"

"I don't know, actually. She hasn't been hanging out with us today. She's probably with her art friends again. Why? Don't you like her?" Dawn got along with Naomi reasonably well--she didn't think they were going to kill each other anytime soon--but she did get the impression that some of her other friends didn't like her roommate so much.

"Oh, I don't know. I'd just rather be alone with you." He smiled at her. "Even if we are just studying."

She grinned at him. She could understand that sentiment. "Tell you what. If Naomi is home, we'll come back here to study. But I do have to at least get my books."

"Fair enough," he agreed.

As it happened, Naomi was not in the room, so they settled down to work; Dawn had her sociology book (magic was the class with the most to read, but she'd have to really concentrate on that, and anyway, she wanted to save it for a time when she could discuss it with Corrie) and Rico had some math. They spent the evening doing homework together and kissing in between; Dawn actually got a lot more done than she had expected to, so by the time Naomi did arrive, she was feeling pretty good about herself. Thankfully, they heard the door start to open and were able to stop kissing as Naomi walked in.

She still grinned at them. "Hey, you two. Up to no good?"

"We're up to plenty of good, I'll have you know," Dawn responded, holding up her psychology textbook. "What about you? You've been gone all day."

"Oh, I've just been out with some of the other art people. We went shopping and stuff." Naomi sat on her bed, pulling her laptop onto her knees.

"I think I'll head back to my room," Rico said.

"I'll walk you down."