A/N: I’m still working on my Harry Potter story, but then this one occurred to me. Please review. :)

Summary: Mysterious deaths are happening all over the place and a new guy has shown up for second semester. What happens when he takes an interest to Janelle?

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I looked up from the math exam and sighed. Fifteen minutes left. I really hated math. I bent down over the paper to answer another problem when Mrs. White, a guidance counsellor, walked into the room and started talking to the professor.

“Janelle Jacobson, could you come down here please?” The professor asked. Curious, I got up and walked over to them. Janelle, Mrs. White would like to speak with you for a minute,” he said. I followed Mrs. White out and wondering why she looked so grim.

“Come with me please,” she said as she started towards her office. Then it hit me. The only time I had ever seen her like that was when she was getting ready to inform a student that their family was - was. Oh gawd. I couldn’t even think about it. I started to panic, different scenarios running through my head, each one worse than the last. “Sit down,” she said kindly, then went about making a cup of tea. Tea! As if anyone could think of tea at a time like this! She handed me the cup and I looked at it blankly for a second before taking a sip.

“Now, I’m afraid I have some bad news.” Oh no, oh no, oh no. This was it. This was the end of my life. “Your parents and sister were in a car accident. A drunk driver forced them off the road. They’re alive but they’re in intensive care.” There was a crash. I had dropped the cup. This couldn’t be true. It had to be a bad prank, a joke. But she looked so serious. “I’ve already signed you out for the rest of the day so you can go see them.”

I stood up. Good I could leave. I needed to leave. To get to the hospital. My world was crashing down around me. I couldn’t breathe properly. My life was over, it didn’t matter. I was shaking and - wait a minute. I wasn’t shaking. Someone was shaking me. I opened my eyes and saw brilliant green ones looking down at me, worried. A dream. It had all been a dream.

“Are you okay?” The green-eyed person asked. It was only then that I noticed that I had tears streaming down my face.

“Yeah, it was just a bad dream.”

“I’ll make you a cup of tea. It’ll make you feel better. What was the dream about?” She wasn’t going to let this go. Especially since I was still crying a bit. That’s one of the things I love about Kathy. She was a big believe about getting people to talk about what happened, thinking that it made people feel better. I don’t know about anyone else but it certainly helped me.

“I dreamed that I was taking a math exam and Mrs. White came in and took me to her office. She told me that my parents and sister were in a car accident. They survived but they were in critical condition,” I told her as I followed her into our tiny kitchen and sat down.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry,” she said as she placed a cup of tea down on the table in front of me. “At least it was only a dream.” She made a second cup of tea and sat down across from me. I took a sip and wiped my eyes.

“Thanks Kathy.” Kathy and I have been roommates since we both started collage two and a half years ago. We have been through everything together. Parties, hangovers, exams, boys, Basically all the ups and downs. Now we were best friends. We had watched each other grow up, maturing from high school girls and into the strong collage women we are now. I smiled softly at her as I thought about it.

“There’s the smile we all know and love! Are you feeling better now?” She asked, still a bit concerned.

“Yeah. Thanks.” I wonder if she’ll ever know how much she means to me. I try to tell her sometimes but I can never find the right words. I don’t think there are any words to describe it actually.

“Okay. I’m going to have a shower. It’s already seven o’clock.” She stood up and went to grab her clothing, shouting over her shoulder, “Oh, and I told Simon that we’d meet him at the computer lab before classes, he said he has something to show me.”

“Okay,” I said absently. I was still thinking about my dream. I decided to phone my family when I got home, make sure they’re all right. It was still too early to phone or I’d phone now. Just to be sure. I finished my tea, picked up Kathy’s cup and rinsed them both. Then put them into the dishwasher. I turned, stretched and regarded the kitchen.

Kathy and I lived in a small apartment just off campus. We had been lucky to find it. The person who lived in it before was moving and wanted to get rid of it. It was in good condition and had come at a fair price. It came with a fairly new oven, fridge and dishwasher, good plumbing and didn’t leak anywhere. The bathroom was small but it had a shower/tub combination, toilet, sink and even a medicine cabinet. There was a bedroom on either side of the bathroom, small but large enough to fit a double bed, dresser and small desk (and also included a closet). There were two windows in each that looked out upon the city and sunrise.

I entered my bedroom and made my bed, a habit drilled into me by my parents. A habit that I wasn’t going to break in the near future. Just by making the bed, the whole room looked better, cleaner. Not that I didn’t keep it clean, there was more room when it was. And I liked to know where everything is. I packed my bag with all the books and stuff I’d need for the day and took it out and set it down by the front door. Hearing the shower still going, I turned on the radio to listen to some music and hear the morning news.

“There have been some strange deaths in the area recently. Starting on Saturday night - ” I shuddered and tried to block it out for a minute. I hate death. And murder. They both kinda go together. I was also kind of worried. A couple of people that go, or went I guess, to my school were killed in one of these strange deaths. They lived in the same area too.

“You can have the shower now Janelle.” I nodded to show that I heard and got up slowly, retrieved my clothes from my room and then went into the already hot bathroom.

“I hope you didn’t use up all the hot water,” I said to Kathy before I closed the door. I brushed my teeth and turned on the water. It was still hot from Kathy’s shower. I undressed and stepped in, allowing the hot water to relax my stiff muscles. I washed and then massaged my head with shampoo and conditioner before getting out and getting dressed.

“Hurry up or we’ll be late!” Kathy shouted. I hurriedly dressed and brushed my hair and stepped out. I had been so sure that I had been faster than her. As I ran out, she started laughing. “I was kidding! And it was worth it!” I looked down. My shirt was backwards and inside-out, I only had one sock on and it was soaking wet, and I had a towel in my hair as I had been trying to dry it while I dressed.

“Thanks a lot,” I said, trying not to laugh. “Very funny.” I went into my room and dressed properly, also changing my socks. I put the towel in the laundry basket and dried my hair with a blow-drier, running a brush through it afterwards.

“Come on, let’s go!” Kathy was getting excited so I let her drag me out the door, just managing to grab a coat and my bag on the way out.