“--which makes it entirely possible for the protagonist to return home to her father.
That is why the author brought up such a miniscule detail.” Janus’ English teacher
grinned at his class. “That is how you foreshadow, kids. Don’t you forget it.”

Janus sighed, shifting a bit in his chair. He could feel two pairs of eyes boring into his
skull. One, no doubt, belonged to Logan. It wasn’t a big surprise. Janus had looked
terrible when he walked into class.

As for the second pair? Janus didn’t know. He could guess, though.

He glanced over and, to his dismay, was met with the eyes of Remus, who froze and
turned away swiftly. Janus quietly groaned, sinking a bit into his chair.

“Okay!” The teacher clapped his hands. “I see that I’m boring you all.” He sighed,
leaning on his desk. “I’ve got a project for you guys.” He said, crossing his arms. “I
will be splitting you up into three groups of six.” He began. “You will create a mini
play that really emphasizes the use of foreshadowing.”

The class exchanged glances, no one looking particularly enthusiastic.
Roman Prince, always the brave one, rose his hand. “Sir, no one wants to do that.”
He said simply, causing Janus to choke on his spit. The class snickered, which caused
the teacher’s face to twist up in annoyance.

“Well, that’s a shame, because you really don’t have a choice.” The teacher
shrugged. “So, Roman, since you feel the need to voice your opinions, your group will
go first.”

Roman frowned, narrowing his eyes at the teacher.

“Remus,” The teacher called, gaining his attention, “would you like to work apart
from your brother this time? If so, you could mov--”

“No!” Remus told the teacher cheerfully.

The teacher sighed. “Right.” He raised his hands and divided the class into three
sections.

Janus looked around.

He groaned again, burying his head in his arms.

Of course.

---

“We’re in the same group, at the very least.” Logan told him, taking a bite of his
sushi.

“My life is over.” Janus despaired, face planted on the table. “He’s going to tell me
how much he didn’t miss me, and then laugh when I cry.”

“You’re being irrational.” Logan said simply, not even looking up from his food.
“You’re usually so calm and collected, what happened?”

“My heart was ripped out of my body and torn into pieces.” Janus bemoaned.

“Edgy.” A new voice commented.

They both looked up.

There stood a boy with purple hair, his roots exposing the dark brown they used to be.
His hair was shielding his eyes, which were a deep brown, and Janus spotted dark
circles underneath his eyes. He wore a black and purple hoodie, paired with a pair of
black ripped jeans.

He shifted anxiously at their silence. “Uh--”

“Who the hell are you?” Janus asked rudely.

“Janus!” Logan shot him a look.

“I’m, uh, Virgil.” He gave a short wave. “Virgil Storm. I’m in your group for the
English project.”

“Ah,” Logan nodded, giving Virgil his full attention, “yes, I recognize you. I’m Logan,
this is Janus.”

Janus gave a small grunt, returning to his brooding.

“Is he okay?” Virgil asked hesitantly.

“Ignore him. So, Virgil, I’m assuming you want to know how to contact us in order to
discuss details pertaining to the English project?” Logan tilted his head. Virgil blinked
at him, brow slowly drawing together.

“Uh, yeah. Can you not talk like...that? I’m way too tired to try and calculate what
you’re saying.” Virgil sat down next to Janus. “Think I got like...three hours? Not
sure. I kinda blinked, and all of a sudden my alarm was going off.”

“That’s...concerning.” Logan frowned. “A healthy sleep schedule is an integral part in
maintaining a satisfactory work ethic.” He told Virgil. “You should try and amend that
as quickly as possible.”

“Whatever, man.” Virgil yawned, waving him off.

“Janus, phone.” Logan held out his hand. Wordlessly, Janus took his phone out of his
pocket and handed it to Logan, who gave both Janus’ phone and his own phone to
Virgil. “Input your phone number into both phones, then hand both of them back to
me.”

“Roger that.” Virgil mumbled sarcastically.

“Who is Roger?” Logan murmured in confusion. Virgil stared at him blankly.

“You’re joking?”

Logan didn’t respond, just tilted his head at Virgil, who glanced at Janus.
Janus shrugged. Logan was the smartest guy Janus had ever met, but sometimes he
took things a bit too literally.

“Do you have any ideas in mind for the project?” Logan asked both of them once Virgil
had returned their phones. “Mr. Knox wasn’t very specific in terms of topics.” He
paused. “We should wait until the rest of our group is here to discuss the specifics,
actually.”

“I’m pretty sure they all have this lunch period too.” Virgil mumbled, looking around.
“I know Princey and the gross version of him do.”

Janus and Logan knew that as well, but neither of them said anything. “And the last
member of this little group?” Janus rose a brow.

“That would be Patton Teller.” Virgil sighed. “I hear that he’s an idiot, so I’m not
expecting much from him.”

“That’s rude.” Logan frowned.

“Could be true.” Janus shrugged. “Can’t say I’m inclined to believe the human
embodiment of angst, though.” Virgil scowled at him.

“Hey, boys! Mind if we join in on this conversation?”

Janus released a heavy sigh, immediately recognizing the voice of Roman Prince. He
had said ‘we,’ and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who else could be with him.

Janus looked up, locking eyes with Remus Prince.

“Hey,” Remus murmured, giving Janus a shy wave. His expression was a mixture of
scared and overjoyed.

This day sucked, Janus decided.

A/N:

Them working together on the project is predictable, you say? Lazy writing, you say? 😢😢😢😢 wh-why would you say that? 😢👉👈