Chapter 5: Breakfast Time

They knocked on Roe and Talia's door, but no one answered, so next they went down to the fourth floor and knocked on Rico and Duncan's door. Rico was the one to open it, and he smiled at Dawn. She smiled automatically back, feeling her spirits rise instantly from his presence--even though she hadn't exactly been down to begin with. "Are you turning into the Pied Piper, hon?" Rico asked, looking over at her friends with raised eyebrows.

"I think Corrie's the one who collects people, actually," Dawn said with a laugh. "We're just seeing who wants to get some brunch."

"In that case, count us in." Rico turned his head to call to his roommate, "Hey, Duncan! Put your clothes on so you don't scare the girls!" Dawn couldn't quite hear Duncan's response, but it sounded like a curse word. "Be right back," said Rico. "I got no shoes on."

A few moments later, both boys were dressed and ready to go. The last door they knocked on was Lorelei's, but she didn't seem to be there either. The group was smaller than it might have been, but that just proved to Dawn that they had plenty of friends. The weather seemed to be just as nice as Dawn had predicted, too; the wisps of mist were fading away, and the sun was beating down warm, but not too warm, on their heads.

At the dining hall, they didn't notice anyone else they knew, so they claimed a table and went to get some food. Dawn was feeling quite hungry, so she picked up an omelette, loaded with mushrooms, spinach, and cheese, and some toast and orange juice to go with it. Waiting in line at the omelette station made her the last person to sit down, but they'd kept a seat for her on the end of the table, with Rico on her left and Edie across from her. Rico squeezed her hand as she set down her tray. She squeezed back. "So, anyone have plans for the weekend?"

"I plan to relax," said Rico with feeling.

Dawn laughed. "I could help you with that."

"Eww," said Annie playfully, wrinkling her nose. They all laughed.

"Besides homework, I think we'll all have to think about planning our new pagan club," said Edie.

"New pagan club?" asked Rico.

Dawn swallowed the mouthful of omelette that she had. "Remember what I told you about the crazy pagan club that Corrie and Edie were going to?" He nodded. She continued, "Well, after several days of me subtly and not-so-subtly hinting to Corrie that she should start her own club, she's finally agreed."

Rico laughed. "I knew you could do anything if you put your mind to it. That's cool, I hope it works out."

"You two could join, you know," said Edie, raising her eyebrows at them. "We don't have any rules against boys, unlike the other club."

"Oh, and Duncan, you're good at math, aren't you?" said Dawn.

Duncan stared down at his bowl of cereal. "Yeah, I guess."

"Top of our class," said Rico, nudging his friend with his elbow. "Why do you need someone good at math?"

"Clubs have to have treasurers to be official," explained Edie. "I don't think we'd really do a lot with money, but it would be helpful to have someone actually good at that sort of thing to be nominally in charge."

Duncan rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. All you'll need for keeping track of your money is simple arithmetic. Maybe a spreadsheet so you don't lose track of it..."

"See?" said Rico. "Duncan, if you don't do it, I'll tell that girl you like what a jerk you are."

"You don't--" said Duncan, starting to scowl.

"So does that mean you're joining the club, Rico?" Dawn interrupted, thinking Duncan looked pretty angry. She was curious who it was that Duncan liked, but she could get that information out of Rico quite easily later.

"Sure," he said with a grin. "I won't promise anything, but I'll be there to support you and make it look like a more popular club. I mean, I might not be as pious as Duncan, but I am still a Christian..."

"Oh, that's fine," said Dawn. She had forgotten that Duncan was fairly religious--now she remembered what he had said about not liking magic. Maybe that was why he was so angry. Well, she wouldn't force him to join the pagan club if he thought it was immoral. "At least, I don't think we're going to be forcing people to adhere to any particular religion, right?"

"Not us," said Edie with a nod. "Besides, Christian perspectives are probably a good thing, right? You guys can tell us about what the Bible says about witches." Suddenly she sat up straighter, looking at something over Dawn's shoulder. Dawn turned, but didn't see anything interesting. "And there's some more people we want for the club!" She waved and called out, "Hey, Darcy, Theresa!"