New Year, New Beginnings.

Chapter Title: New Year, New Beginnings (from Deciding Factor)

“And thou shalt be scattered across the Earth that thou shalt forget my inner Truth. For the Truth shall set you free and Man was created be bound in chains of its own devising.” (Hauntings 3:156)

The general air around campus was cheerful and excited despite the cold temperatures. Snow drifted off the trees every time the wind blew and fell in heaps onto the frozen ground. The study group had moved into one of their earlier meeting rooms due to cold temperatures for most of their get-togethers, but Harrison had sent out a message that they were going to meet in the usual, outside, spot for their last meeting of the calendar year.

“Winter break, muthafuckas!” Frankie crowed as he approached the tree Harrison was leaning against. Frankie broke into a sprint and went on his knees, sliding on the icy ground until Jessie pushed him over with her foot. He got up and brushed off his legs, scowling at the girl. “Punk” he muttered, pushing her shoulder. She just rolled her eyes and punched his arm, smirking slightly at the questioning look that Harrison was giving the two of them as they walked over.

“On again, I assume?” A quiet voice sounded from the other side of the tree, which made everyone jump in surprise. Cameron had been sitting there for a while, which was clearly shown by the thick dust of snow on his aviator hat. He seemed to be staring intently at one dead leaf that seemed to be hanging by a thread off of its parent branch, waiting for it to fall. He barely moved, and if the behavior were not so common to the group that knew him so well, one might have thought that he had fallen asleep with his eyes open or had simply frozen to death.

Frank shoved Jessica one last time and jogged the last few steps to the tree, peering around its side to see Cameron. He was reaching out to grab Cam’s shoulder when his roommate muttered “wait”. Knowing how Cam acted when he was pulled away from whatever thing he was focused on before he absolutely had to, Frank let his hand just hover over Cameron’s shoulder. A good minute passed before a faint breeze passed through the clearing and lifted the leaf from the branch. As soon as the leaf was gone, Cameron turned his torso and grabbed Frank’s hand, pulling himself into a standing position.