The entire classroom hummed with panicked murmurs. Groups of students reviewed notes in a desperate attempt to iron out any last-minute kinks in their presentations. Ross had a way of picking students apart although Sam wagered that was a personal joy for him. Ellis and Fletcher were running late by Ellis’s standards meaning they weren’t fifteen minutes early. Not entirely unheard of, but annoying considering how insistent they both were about arriving early to review the notes beforehand. Even Roman was early although he spent the extra time pretending the black lab table was a drum set. His incessant pencil tapping couldn’t even be considered a beat.

Ross craned his neck over the old projector trying to prepare for the next hour of presentations. The twisted grin displayed on his face made Sam curious if he enjoyed causing students anxiety or perhaps, he really just loved the environment. Either way it was obnoxious but no more obnoxious than his ridiculous pinstripe suit. This is private school not a fashion show, Sam thought to himself. In contrast to Ross's professional appearance was Roman’s blatant disregard for the school uniform. The white dress shirt he wore had the top few buttons undone along with his tie which wore more like a scarf. Honestly, Sam wasn't entirely sure if anyone ever taught Roman to dress himself.

“Hey, did Ellis ever give you the presentation notes?” Sam asked as he tipped his chair back on its hind legs.

“I guess. Bare bones, only bullet points but I can make it work.” Roman paused his drum solo. “It’s not like I’m the one who cares about this stuff anyways.”

Ellis cared a lot for school, entirely too much in Sam’s opinion but the lack of details was a surprise. Even the notes he was provided seemed like they were put together at the last minute. The night before Sam spent almost an hour reviewing them along with scouring the internet for any related information that might help him understand the haphazard notes.

“When do we go?” Sam asked slowly, placing his hand over Roman’s mock drumsticks.

“Second to last.” Roman dropped the pencils as Ross left his spot in front of the projector and marched over to their seats.

“Mr. Davenport, don’t make me dress code you.” Ross gestured to his entire torso. “Where is your blazer?”

“Would you believe me if I said my dog ate it?” Roman asked as if it were a funny joke. It wasn’t

“Considering I teach Declan as well and he has mentioned your mother’s disdain for dogs and your father’s allergies; No.” Ross paused to add a disapproving glare to his lecture. Sam wondered exactly why Declan would have been so open about his parents or what class would allow for such an odd dialog. “Button up your shirt, put your tie on properly.”

Roman made no motion to do either of those things instead choosing to go back to his drumming. Ross inhaled deeply before grabbing the pencils out of his hands. His mouth twitched erratically trying to form a sentence that might get Roman to obey for once. Some broken part of Roman’s brain made him act like any form of authority was meant to be disobeyed and disrespected. From an outsider’s perspective, he looked like a glutton for punishment, but Sam knew better. He wanted attention and was just desperate enough that it didn’t matter if it was positive or negative.

“Button the shirt up or I will.” The intended intimidation failed. One, because Ross was a thin man with little else of note. Two, because Roman was nothing if not quick witted.

“You want to button up my shirt? You want to reword that, or should I call Mrs. Holloway now?” Roman said with a cheeky grin.

“Roman, please.” Ross was completely exasperated. “Just button up the shirt.”

With nimble fingers, he quickly buttoned his shirt back up. Sam guessed Roman’s uniform tantrum was a ploy to unnerve Ross, but it didn’t change the anxiety that was crawling through Sam’s chest. Ross was the only person they knew who could provide a translation for the journal and he would be well within his rights to withhold it from them for Roman’s less than stellar behavior. Ross waited for Roman to put his tie on before returning to the front of the room.

While waiting for the others to arrive, Sam took Roman’s notes and looked them over so that he would at the very least know what was going to be said. Ellis and Fletcher arrived fashionably late, both laughing at some inside joke Sam didn’t care to hear. There was a glimmer of endearment in Ellis’s eyes, but Fletcher didn’t seem to notice beyond the usual friendship. Sam always found it a bit funny how Fletcher never noticed.

The boys took their seats across from Roman and Sam while Ross welcomed the first group to the front of the classroom. As each presentation rolled by Sam began to notice a trend. The other students’ presentations were all well put together with an equal share of the speaking time. Clearly the other groups had taken it more seriously than their group. They hadn't even rehearsed but between Ellis’s newfound ability to cry gold, being haunted and planning a wake-a-ton with the kid they murdered it was safe to say they were a bit busy.

Time raced by as the dread washed over Sam. He was completely unsure of what the other presentations were even about. He had been too distracted with his worries about their presentation. It was obvious that Roman wouldn't be of any help. Sam didn't even care about grades, he did however care about Ellis and Fletcher who did very much care about their grades; by proxy Sam was forced to care.

“Mr. Holloway, would your group be so kind as to come to the front?” Ross called as another group sat down.

The boys slowly walk to the front. Fletcher took on the duty of controlling the presentation while Ellis started the intro. Sam didn't pay much attention to exactly what he was saying but there was a level of melodrama unfit for a high school biology class.

“As Ellis said, we’ve been looking into the water pollution affecting the Emmerson area. Particularly with Aradia Lake.” Fletcher continued from Ellis’s introduction.

Ellis and Fletcher bounced back and forth for the first half of the presentation with little input from Sam or Roman. By the way Ross knitted his eyebrows together and crossed his arms, Sam got the impression he wasn’t the least bit impressed; Which didn’t change when Roman finally did speak.

“Aradia Lake is a…” Roman read directly off of the cue card. He snarled his lip trying to figure out how to pronounce the next word. “fluvial lake.” He finished as Ellis cringed.

“What exactly is a fluvial lake?” Ross asked skeptically.

“A lake produced by running water.” Ellis spoke for Roman.

“Thank you, Mr. Holloway but next time let Mr. Davenport answer the question…Continue.”

“Uh yeah…Unlike an anthropogenic lake-”

“And what does that mean?” Ross cut him off without even giving Roman the chance to speak.

“Sir, please let us finish our presentation before you ask any questions.” Fletcher said in a more confrontational way then Sam would have expected but Ross let them continue.

Sam breezed through his cue cards barely needing them to make his point. Ellis and Fletcher finished up their parts while Roman kept a tense smile the entire time. It was clear that they knew what they were talking about; well, everyone but Roman. As they drew to a close Fletcher began to explain the solution.

“So, our solution to prevent more damage to the already fragile ecosystem is to cancel the dredging of Aradia Lake.”

“And what about the risk of flooding the lake creates? You think the surrounding areas can survive the yearly flooding the dredging is supposed to prevent.” Ross tapped his pen as he spoke. A small smirk caught the corner of his lip.

“In terms of environmental effect, the cons of dredging the lake are far higher than the flooding.” Ellis said, quick to respond. Although Sam knew the answer was vague it should have satisfied any normal teacher, but Ross had a strong animosity towards Ellis.

“Do you believe that? Does anyone in your group have an opinion or an educated thought of their own? Or am I supposed to sit here and just take your word alone for it, Mr. Holloway? This is a group project; I expect a group effort. So, unless I see some participation from Mr. Davenport or Mr. Schuyler, I will be forced to fail you. That is of course if they know what you’re talking about”

Ellis’s face went a ghostly white despite it being a hollow threat. The likelihood that Ross would fail them was slim to none. Sure, he liked to watch students squirm under pressure, but he had to play by the rules of the rubric. They could have lost maybe five points at most but that didn’t change the panic brewing on Ellis’s face.

“Sir. I do know what our project is about.” Sam had to bite back the bitterness he felt building in his chest.

Sam knew people thought he was dumb. Sometimes he thought it was a by-product of being a stoner, but other times he thought it was his laid-back attitude. The truth was Sam didn’t care to be the smartest person in the room nor did he care to pretend to be. Intelligence was a trait people liked to flaunt as if it was the single most important thing about them. Sam never saw it that way. He’d rather have had people assume he was idiotic than go through a hundred pointless conversations where someone tries to prove just how smart they are. Intelligence was nothing if you didn’t know how to learn and Sam was more than capable of learning.

“Please, enlighten us.” Ross let the sarcasm seep into his words.

“Okay.” Sam started walking around the room casually. “So basically, the main reason people dredge a lake is to remove sediments and debris from the bottom. This can be for reducing exposure of wildlife to contaminants but in the case of Aradia, it’s only to reduce flooding not containments. The town has already been warned about the effect it's going to have on the wildlife so why are they still going through with it?” He paused and looked around the class. “Capitalism. Aradia Lake has great shore properties, but they can’t sell because of the yearly flooding.”

“Than-” Ross started as he stood from his chair before Sam interrupted him,

“I’m not finished. Aradia Lake is also notably treaty ground that we stole. So, I suppose, Sir, the real question you should be asking is what do we value? The ecosystem or selling land that by all rights shouldn’t belong to us.”

“That is-” The bell drowned out anything else Ross said.

The boys quickly packed up their things, not giving Ross even a moment to ask any further questions although he didn’t seem interested anymore. People like Ross weren’t Sam’s cup of tea. He also doubted they should have taught high schoolers. The man loved teaching, probably. However, he didn’t seem to enjoy most people. Sam thought he’d have been better off as a recluse in some research lab doing anything besides tormenting high school students.

Walking out to the hall, Roman let out a sigh of relief and fell back against a set of lockers. Ellis just smiled softly. It was rare for Ellis to direct any positive attention to anyone but himself but with his small grin he thanked Sam.

“I can’t believe we actually did that. I can’t believe you did that.” Fletcher laughed before directing the second half of his sentence at Sam.

“Ah, it's nothing. I just read the report and double checked some stuff. Unlike someone.” Sam playfully kicked Roman.

“Hey! I read it. Mostly.” He paused and stifled a laugh. “What does anthropogenic mean?”

“Man made.” Ellis answered and Roman nodded along like he knew the difference.

Slowly, the boys trudged down the hall. Roman hung back, closer to Sam while Ellis and Fletcher walked in front. Admittedly, it took Sam longer than most to notice that Roman and Fletcher had some tension brewing, but he simply didn’t care. Either Fletcher would get over whatever it was or Roman would apologize. One way or another they would come around. They always did.

“So, cleaning the Wildes dorm…When do we start?” Sam asked, biting back a comment about the complexity of the plan. They could have broken in the dorm rather than host a whole event, but no Ellis had to have morals or something.

“Monday, Wednesday, Friday. 4:30-7:30.” Ellis answered, looking back at Sam. “Saturdays if the Coach is supervising.”

“Doesn’t that affect your ever-active social life?”

“It’s not a social life, it's a social obligation.” Roman joked although it was the truth.

“I’ll be around when I have time.” Ellis continued down the hall, not paying any mind to the comments.

“So never?” Roman’s quip earned him an eye roll.

A few more rapid-fire digs went back and forth between Ellis and Roman, but they stayed generally light-hearted. Once they reached the end of the hall, they all looked at each other in an odd way. Normally, they would have just gone their separate ways but something in the air seemed to change. Heavier in a way.

“Uh…” Roman tried to fill the silence. “Meeting up after school?”

“Model UN.” Ellis replied before walking off without so much as a goodbye.

“I have a date.” Fletcher said in an entirely odd way almost like it was a jab at Roman. Maybe it was supposed to be. Roman was chronically single, but Sam assumed that was mostly by choice.

“So just me and you, Sammy boy.” Roman’s ability to infuriate people with simple sentences was almost a talent.

“Call me that again and you’ll be catching my hands.”

***

Wildes House was essentially like any other dorm on the property. Brick building, large white windows and vines crawling across walls although the vines were long since dead. There was nothing particularly special about it save it being closed down. On the front steps was Ross wrapped in a peacoat scrolling through his phone. Great, he’s going to be a fun supervisor, Sam cursed silently.

With soft steps Sam walked by him, certain that Ross could smell the joint he was smoking before coming. He certainly wasn’t about to volunteer work sober. Inside the dorm was unsettling, the air heavy and the mood somber. Sam couldn’t tell if it was because he was high or if the odd, uninhibited feeling that tingled through his veins was real. Dusted filled every inch of the empty halls. It was hard to imagine just a few years ago the place housed over twenty young men. Ambling down the hall, Sam noticed the old bulletin boards were still plastered with the school’s news; Albeit outdated. It was like he was stepping back through time. Once he reached the end of the hall, he could faintly hear an old song. Sam pressed his ear up to the wall trying to locate the sound. The source came from behind a thick oak door. Hesitantly, Sam turned the knob.

Behind the door was Roman. Surprisingly early and dressed in his football track suit. Sam guessed he didn’t want to get his nice clothes dirty, as if he had any. He swept the floor, half dancing to the tune. Sam leaned on the door waiting for Roman to notice him. It was odd to see Roman genuinely happy, especially doing volunteer work but he was. Sam gave a quiet laugh at the sight.

Sam scanned around the room to get a feel for how much work the cleaning process would be. All of the furniture was covered by sheets. It didn’t make much sense to him why they would leave any furniture in it. If he didn’t know any better, he would have said they closed it overnight.

“Oh.” Roman said, finally noticing him.

“This is shit.”

“I know.” Roman did not know. If he knew he wouldn’t have been wearing his lopsided grin with pride. “Broom?”

Sam accepted the broom but only made a half-hearted effort to clean. The amount of effort they were putting in just to talk to one ghost was insane. They could have cracked the game out right then and be done with it, but Sam knew better. Roman wouldn’t agree without Ellis being there. The co-dependence of the two was starting to get irritating.

He resented the cleaning not only because it was manual labor, but the entire dorm was eerie. To cope with the feeling, he tried to imagine the dorm the way it used to be; filled with pretentious boys bragging about their parent’s achievements as if they had any part of it. Honestly, Sam never much liked the boarding students. They tended to fall into the private school kids’ cliché’s a little too much to be bearable. Boarding students tended to flock to him, all usually in search of some weed but Sam rarely provided, seeing as they were generally insufferable people.

His dwelling thoughts on the boarding students gave him an idea. Roman may not go for his plan to talk to the spirits early but he’d be easier to convince if he wasn’t sober. Sam cracked a window open and dug around his pocket for his miniature bong. He fiddled with it for a moment before he poured some water in it. He held it out to Roman who seemed hesitant at first.

“Dude, I’ve heard stories about you doing a lot worse than a little weed.” Sam reasoned.

“Yeah, not on school grounds.”

“Scared of getting in trouble?” Sam said mockingly. Without a doubt in his mind Roman would fall for his trick. Peer pressure worked surprisingly well on him.

“I’m not. I’m scared of Ellis’s mom finding out.”

“Worried your future mother-in-law won’t accept you?” Sam joked again before taking a hit of the bong himself. He still coughed a bit as it always was a bit rough to inhale. “Or is it that you’ll be a bad influence on your boyfriend?”

“Ellis is not my boyfriend.”

“You’re right, his standards are higher. And about 6’1 with curly brown hair and green eyes.”

“If I do it will this conversation end?” Roman asked which Sam nodded to. “Sure.”

It didn’t take much time for Sam to notice the high hitting Roman. His normal rigid stance melted into a bit of an awkward sitting position with loose limbs. The white of his eyes turned a hazy pink while his overall demeanor shifted to a more tolerable version of himself. All of the aggression he carried was absent, replaced by a goofy smile.

They hadn’t cleaned much more of the dorm aside from pulling the sheets of furniture. Although Roman only did that so he could wrap himself in them. Sam knew Roman to partake in some illicit behavior, underage drinking predominantly, but he hadn’t expected him to be such a lightweight. Sam suspected his tolerance was more attributed to the fact he usually only used the illegal substances to rebel against his parents. If his parents weren’t going to notice, Sam doubted that Roman would even try.

“So.” Roman started, pulling the sheets tighter around himself. “What the hell was with Helga and the birds?”

“I wish I could do that.” Sam crawled onto the bottom bunk of one of the stiff bunk beds. He was surprised at how uncomfortable it was considering how much the school cost in the first place. “Bird taxi.” He concluded.

“Maybe you can…Like how Ellis cries gold now.” Roman paused looking over at the bunk bed. Sam could practically see the gears turning in his head. Slowly, Roman crawled and climbed into the same bunk as Sam. Ignoring the cramped space, he offered to share his sheet, but Sam declined. “He could be uber rich.”

“He is uber rich.” Sam replied pushing himself against the wall to give Roman some more space, half concerned he wanted to cuddle. Is he touch starved? Sam questioned silently. “What kind of magic do you think we could do?”

“Idealistically, I’d like to turn Ellis into a toad.” He pulled the sheet over his head, creating a hood-like shape around him. His appearance was akin to a child at a sleepover. “Just for like a couple hours.”

“Can toads wear glasses?”

“Nah, we just let him hop around blind.”

Considering Roman’s current state, Sam decided it would be best to try and get his plan in motion as soon as possible. Once Roman began to sober up, he wouldn’t be nearly as agreeable. Motioning for his backpack, Sam asked Roman to hand it to him. Without getting up, Roman half crawled to the backpack creating an odd human bridge between the edge of the bed and the floor. He tossed the backpack over to Sam.

“Whatcha’ doing?” Roman asked curiously but the interest in his eyes faded as he saw Sam slide the board out of the bag. “We can’t.”

“Why not?” Sam asked as he laid it out on the bed. “Please?”

With a small look of defeat in his eyes, Roman nodded. Sam placed the planchette and began the process. He didn’t bother to explain the rules, but he still gave a quick introduction to the spirit world. Sam waited for a response but the planchette didn’t move at all. Speaking into the open air, Sam tried a few random questions, but nothing could elicit a response. Strange considering how it was almost instant when he tried it with Fletcher. Did the spirits not like Roman?

“Maybe it has to be at night. I hear spooky stuff happens at the witching hour.” Roman suggested. He wasn’t entirely wrong; it was more ideal to be at night, but it shouldn’t have mattered.

“No, we did it during the day last time.”

“What if we need something for him? Like how you guys talk to the lady in the lake. Cabin is close to the lake.” Roman added.

“Fuck, I just wanted to talk to some ghosts.”

In the distance, they could hear the door creak open. Expecting Ross, Sam was surprised to see Fletcher. Without so much as a hello, he waltzed into the room and his cheeky grin faded as he sniffed the air. Sam wasn’t aware of how strong the smell was, but he assumed by the distaste on Fletcher’s face it must have been bad. His irritation only increased when he noticed the spirit board.

“No, we aren’t doing it until Ellis is here.” Fletcher scowled before looking at Sam sprawled out on the bed. “Are you high?”

“As a kite, babe.” Sam replied although he was surprised Fletcher asked him first instead of Roman who was quite possibly the highest he had ever been, but he supposed it could have been due to the fact Roman wasn’t known to partake in smoking.

With one arm on the side of the top bunk, Fletcher leaned down and looked into Roman’s blood shot eyes. The pink hazy of his blood shot eyes only stood to make his ice eyes stand out sharply. Pulling down Roman’s lower eyelid Fletcher groaned before he said,

“And you?” He already knew the answer.

“None of ya business,” Roman replied with a childlike giggle.

“So that’s a yes.” Fletcher stopped and scanned the room. “Have you guys just been cleaning this one room?

“It was dirty.” Roman chirped up.

“It is dirty.” Fletcher corrected as he wiped his fingertips across the edge of the bed, dust flying in the air as he went. “Did you look around and see what needs to be done?”

“No…”

“Come on.” Fletcher sighed.

Quickly, they walked around the dorm. Fletcher took notes on his phone about what rooms need what. Most of the rooms were just incredibly dusty but a few would need furniture removed, cleaned or fixed. The nice thing about the dorm was that most of the rooms looked the same which saved them some time. Sam noted the common rooms were exceptionally dirty but that was to be expected for a space that used to be filled with teenage boys. It did however make Sam question if they had even cleaned before they closed it up.

As they went to the lower level, they noticed only one door at the end of the hall. The door was made of solid wood and stained a deep and dark red, speckled with spots of water damage. Where there normally would have been a handle was a crystal doorknob. Sam tried the door, but it was locked tight.

“I can kick it down.” Sam said.

“I’d rather not have to rehang a door.” Fletcher replied. “We can-”

“I can pick the lock.” Roman cut off Fletcher as he pulled a pin off of Sam’s backpack and jammed it into the small hole just below the knob. After a few minutes of him viciously shaking the pin in the lock, Sam came to the conclusion he had never picked a lock before.

“It’s a privacy lock.” Fletcher stated as he leaned against the wall. Looking down at Roman, he laughed.

“Do you just say shit and we all believe you?” Roman asked.

“Usually, yeah. Give me your wallet” An odd request for Fletcher but Sam trusted it was for a reason.

“Why?”

“Do you want the door open?” Fletcher asked.

Reluctantly, Roman handed him the wallet. Fishing out his credit card, Fletcher still looked more competent than Roman. Taking the card, he slid it into the small gap between the door and the doorjamb. Just above the door handle, he pushed the card downwards and in. Finally, he gave it a small wiggle and the door came open.

Entering the room, Sam noticed it was empty. The only thing of note was one wall had an arch of peeling paint across it. Wagering a guess, Sam would have said the room hadn’t been opened for a lot longer than the dorm had been closed but there was something almost electric in the air. It felt different yet natural, almost like they were meant to be there. Maybe it was a sign that Davis did want to talk, just on his own terms or perhaps there was another reason they ended up there. Either way, Sam felt at home in the empty room.

“Guess we’re going to be doing some painting.” Fletcher said, pulling a strip of paint off the wall.