Jess quickly glanced around, knowing that particular feeling, but found nothing. She had to be imagining it. She would've shrugged it off if it weren't for Cheez. He seemed on edge. Jess turned her head this time, but still found nothing. She sighed.

"Cheez-It, I think it's okay," She offered to pet him, but he swatted her fingers away. This had to be serious. Jess leaned back in her chair. "Okay. You may come out now." She waited, but then heard a whoosh of air behind her. She tried her best not to widen her eyes as she turned her head to look behind her.

It was him.

"You should listen to your cat next time, human," the grumbling voice snarled. Jess forced a smile, scared shitless.

"Maybe you should announce yourself next time," she joked to the demon, but his face remained stoic as his arms crossed. "Reficul, right?"

"It's Professor Lykman to you, pest." Jess absentmindedly ran a hand through the back of her hair.

"It's Jess, but close enough I presume." She laughed. Refi-Professor Lykman stood there for a second, listening, before his face darkened.

"I did not ask for your name." Jess quickly bit her lip, earning narrowed eyes from the demon.

"I suppose that would be correct. However, I equally did not ask to be called a pest."

"I do not care what you asked."

"Why am I a Jess- I mean 'pest,' again?" Professor Lykman rolled his eyes, as if it was something Jess should have known.

"You are a human. All humans are pests."

"But-" Lykman leaned down, his hair falling and trapping Jess. He spoke slowly.

"I do not have to explain myself to you. Why are you here?" The snarling voice seemed to deepen, possibly as a way to try to intimidate her. Jess, feeling a surge or confidence in denial of this demon's superiority complex, snapped back.

"I'm a witch." You tilted your head back to meet his eyes. He rolled his once again

"That does not explain why you are here. This school is not for humans, witch or no witch."

"Maybe there are some things the principal knows that you don't get to know. At least not yet." Jess added that last part when his sharp teeth flashed in what could only be assumed as anger. "I assume you're the demon studies professor?" The professor smirked and leaned back, allowing Jess to straighten her head up and turn to look at him.

"As I'm sure Arnold has told you," he seemed to be bitter with him, "I am. I assume I have to see you in class?" His lips curled into a freakish smile. Jess fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Yes, sir. Unfortunately you will," Jess laughed it off, trying to fix the mood. Lykman was not recessive.

"Very unfortunate. Well, I will leave you now. I have something more important to do." Must not be that important if you spent all this time trying to interrogate me.

With one final glare, he disappeared.

After checking with Cheez-It to see if the demon was really gone, Jess decided to grab a book and start reading. She didn't really care what it was about, nor did she pay attention to the story on the page. Her mind was on her own thoughts and worries.

Is everyone going to treat me that way? They all did stare at me when I was underground, just maybe not as intensely as he did. I already have to deal with students making judgements about me. One of them said they hoped I was fresh meat!

With a groan, Jess flopped her head on the desk, inadvertently scaring Cheez quite a bit.

"Um... hi," Jess heard a soft, delicate voice to the right of her. She lifted her head up, stifling a groan.

"Hi," she smiled at what appeared to be a ghost with antlers? How peculiar. The ghost girl has long white hair and what looked like black tear stains running down her cheeks. Her irises were a bright purple, but her eye whites were actually a deep black, making her features look sunken in. She had buns in her long hair, giving her a hairstyle that looked quite like an anime character's. Her hands were clasped together in front of her chest, and her thin frame made her look like she could float away with the breeze. Maybe she tried to hide it with her sweater. It had the ghosts' species mark under what looked like the school logo. Not that they needed one. The biggest observation Jess could make was the white eyepatch over her right eye. She probably shouldn't ask.

"May I ask for your name?" The ghost girl almost looked like she was trembling.

"Yeah! Of course. I'm Jess. Jess Brown. Are you comfortable with a hand shake?" The human held her hand out to the ghost.

"Oh... is that a human thing? Uh, sure..." The ghost gently held her hand out, and when Jess took it, it felt as fragile as it looked. She gently shook it with a little laugh at the girl's uncertainty. Jess let her hand go as gently as possible.

"May I ask for your name?" She nodded, a small smile on her face.

"It's Brileigh Dallsworth, but please..., call me Bri." Jess nodded.

"Nice to meet you Bri. I'd say you're the first friendly face I've met since I've been here, well, except for the front office people." Jess laughed slightly and Bri's smile widened. She looks sweet when she smiles.

"Yeah, I walked in when you were talking to the new professor. He seems like a jerk." Funnily enough, hearing the word jerk in such a soft tone made Jess laugh even more, which in turn caused Bri to giggle. It was no different from her voice. "I'm glad I won't be in class with him."

"Yeah." Jess dragged the word out. "I won't be so lucky." Bri's eyes widened in terror.

"You're a demon? Oh I'm so sorry for assuming you were human! You just-"

"I am human, Bri." Bri looked to Jess in confusion.

"I don't understand. If you're human, how are you in this school?"

"Oh, right. Well, it's a long story, but I'll also be in your class, too." Bri looked even more confused, her eyebrows riddled with worry and her eyes wide. "I'm a witch... who apparently has the abilities of other species, so I was sent here by the government to learn about them." Jess gave a nervous smile, to which Bri had to sit down. "I know, it's a lot." Bri leaned into her.

"Are you a government spy?" Bri said with a slight sparkle in her eye. Jess laughed slightly and Bri leaned back. She couldn't tell if Bri was disappointed or not.

"No. I'm just some weird creature. If anything, I'm a government experiment." Despite her laughter, Jess was hurt by her own words. She died off when Bri didn't respond. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't think you're weird, Jess. If anything, you're the nicest person in this school. No one even tries to talk to me..."

"Well, I appreciate that, Bri. Do you have a phone?" Bri shook her head.

"We aren't allowed to have phones here, but I can give you my dorm room number if you want to send a letter one day! What's yours?"

"Oh, uh.." Jess took out her key and read the number. "Four hundred forty-four."

"Cool! Mine's five hundred seventy-five. I have to go now, to do something in my dorm. What will you do"

"Oh. I was just told to wander the school. Sort of like an orientation." Jess laughed. Bri nodded.

"Well, it'll be dinner in a couple of hours. I'll save you a seat at the ghost table, okay?" Jess genuinely smiled.

"I would love that. Thanks, Bri."