The sophomore dorms were much nicer than my freshman ones had been. I suppose it was to encourage students to come back the next year to see what kind of living space they would get, but I couldn't help thinking that this room, that looked a bit like a five star hotel room, was over the top.

"Settling in nicely?" Neil said, sitting on the mahogany window seat covered with tasseled pillows in many shades of red.

"I might be if this place didn't look so expensive." I said, packing my clothes into the matching dresser. "It reminds me of your chateau."

"Just wait until you see the English castle." He said, smiling broadly. "That place is extravagance like you commoners have never seen before."

Background check, for everyone who needs it.

Name: Cornelius Algernon Theodoric Blake

Position: The filthy rich first son of Bernard Blake, heir to several important businesses and my roommate

Likes: Collecting swords, playing the guitar, reading

Dislikes: His family's insanity, Adam's clubs, homework (but he always does it anyway)

I threw a wad of socks at him, which he easily blocked with a forearm. I guess it was a conditioned response, since his father (who was under the impression that he was a Shaolin monk) and he often had sparring matches as a way to say hello.

There was a knock on our door, and was then thrown open by an identical pair of our fellow classmates.

Name: Hans and Frans Bachmeier

Position: Twins. Father owns some German companies, breweries, and many houses.

Likes: Cars, girls, and wreaking havoc

Dislikes: Being separated, 'Oma's' wrath, having to follow rules

"Yo, Ethan." Hans (or Frans, because I still couldn't tell them apart) said, giving me a friendly slap on the back. The other one jumped onto my bed (which was the closest one to the door) and kicked off his roller blades.

"How was Germany?" I asked, rubbing my back because that friendly slap was really hard.

They shrugged in perfect unison. "Decent."

"Have any of you seen my roommate?" A British accent asked from the open doorway, and there stood Edmund, his dark hair perfectly combed and teeth unnaturally white. He pushed his glasses up his nose and whipped out a vibrating cellphone. "I told you." he said into it. "I don't want to hear from her for three months. And fix the records we talked about by five o' clock or there'll be hell to pay."

Name: Edmund Griffins

Position: Orphan. Seems to be in charge of a lot of things, but I'm not quite sure what he does. Baron of Devonshire

Likes: Order, being in charge, money

Dislikes: Noisy girls, ugly women, having to reschedule

Edmund hung up and looked into our room. "Still not unpacked? Classes start Monday, I'm afraid. Better get to it. But if you haven't seen my frivolous room--" He stopped, because Taki, the person in question, had just arrived.

Name: Taki Nakamura

Position: Heir to a major Japanese company

Likes: Fried rice, honorifics, Ethan

Dislikes: Women, particularly his fiances (He has so many he keeps a list of their names with key facts about them)

"Ethan!" He exclaimed when he say me, holding out his arms and rushing towards me, like he was going to give me a hug, but Frans put a foot out and caught him in the forehead.

"Hey Taki." I finished stuffing my shirts into drawers and went on to hanging up my school uniform. "Enjoy Japan?"

"I was so lonely." He said, pulling up the winged armchair. "I really missed everyone, especially you, Ethan."

"I'm flattered." I replied.

"And we're hungry." The twins said together. "We're going to eat."

(More back to school coming later:))

ADVENTURES AT THE OTHER BLAKE ESTATE PART SEVEN

It's never easy to get up in the morning, especially when you're extra tired from staying up late, but I had no choice that morning. Ray shook me awake with such strength, you'd have thought he wasn't a cute seven year old boy, or however old he was. "Ethan." He said as my eyelids fluttered open and I gave a little moan of protest. "Papa wants to see to you."

I sat up. This whole time at the Blake's estate, and I had barely even seen the master of the house, let alone had the chance to speak to him. I wondered what it was about. "Give me five minutes to get ready." I said and hopped out of the bed.

"Okay." Ray looked to have no intention of leaving. I guess that guys really didn't think other guys minded seeing them change clothes. I tried to think of a way to politely tell Ray to leave, but Butterfly, ever present by the boy's side said, in his seldom-used voice. "Let's go."

Ray looked up at Butterfly. "Breakfast?"

Butterfly nodded.

"Okay. Bye, Ethan. Daddy's in the greenhouse." He turned to Butterfly. "Can I have strawberries?"

They left, and I threw on a fresh set of clothes. I wasn't quite sure where the greenhouse was, but I was hoping to run into a maid or butler who could point me in the right direction. It seemed, however, that everyone had the morning off, and I wandered though the vast, winding halls of the chateau until I began to wonder if whatever Bernard Blake had to say was worth getting thoroughly lost.

Then I heard voices coming from a room. I peeked through the keyhole, not wanting to open the door on anyone in the midst of a thrilling conversation, when I recognized the pants and voices of Neil and Adam.

The latter spoke. "You're a pretty smart kid, aren't you?"

This didn't seem important, so I put my hand on the knob, just in time to hear Neil say, "I'm not gay, if that's what you're asking."

I paused. I wasn't about to disrupt this just for the sake of learning where the greenhouse was. I thought about continuing my search elsewhere, but I really couldn't resist hearing just a bit more.

"I wasn't. Well, sort of." I watched Adam's pants (I couldn't see higher than their waists from looking through the key hole) move to stand closer to Neil's pants. "You know, right?"

"I know everything."

Adam laughed.

"But the real question is, how much do you know?" Neil asked. "I know you know, but since when?"

"Longer than you, I'm sure."

"How can you be? I mean, I knew after about five minutes."

"Well, it doesn't matter." Adam sighed. "You had a handicap."

Neil began to protest, but Adam stopped him. "So you aren't stupid."

My hand slipped on the doorknob, and the door swung open.

"Ethan!" Adam and Neil said together in the tone of one caught in the act of putting tacks on a teacher's chair.

"I...um...well...the greenhouse."

Neil breathed a sigh of relief. "You got lost. No worries. Happens all the time. Come with me." He came over to the doorway and began to lead me out, before turning back to Adam, still looking a bit like he'd put his foot in his mouth. "I'm not stupid, Adam." He put a hand on my shoulder and led me away.

When we got to the greenhouse, it was empty, though Mr. Blake had so kindly left an envelope with a sheet of paper inside. I tried to read it, but the handwriting was so bad that both Neil and I gave up.

So much for waking up early.

ADVENTURES AT THE OTHER BLAKE ESTATE PART SIX

The day after Neil's birthday was boring by comparison to the party before. It was my last day in France before Cecelia and I were shipped back to America, and, after spending the morning eating a gigantic brunch with the Blake family, I spent the rest of the day doing something I like to call 'blobbing out.' I catnapped and watched TV until supper, which was a less extravagant affair than breakfast, during which Ray ate only cake and Geoffrey made a palace out of silverware. He said it represented his inner stronghold. Everyone just ignored him.

I wasn't tired that night, due to my naps. I texted Cecelia for a while, until, around eleven o' clock, she came up with an idea.

"Want to go swimming?" She asked.

"Isn't it a nude beach?"

"So what? Everyone's gone by now."

"What if someone catches us?"

"Then we run for it. Come on, it'll be fun."

So that's why, at eleven thirty, I found myself sneaking out of the Blake chateau. I did get caught by the security guards, twice in fact, but after I explained that I was just going swimming, and I was a guest at the house, they let me go.

Cecelia was waiting for me. "Ready?" She asked.

I looked at the ocean, the light of the moon reflecting off it, making the water look like molten silver. I smelled the salt in the air, felt the sand shifting under my bare feet, and nodded.

Skinny dipping was not something I was ready to repeat any time soon, but it was tremendous fun, in a giggly, girly, my-stomach-so-needs-a-tan sort of way. Cecelia and I splashed through the water, frolicking like children, dancing in and out of the waves.

"I wish there were some hot guys here." Cecelia said.

"Tell me something I don't know." I agreed, laughing.

"I want to screw Butterfly."

"WHAT!"

"You told me to tell you something you don't know."

I sighed. "He may be hot, CC, but he doesn't talk."

"The strong and silent type..." Cecelia mused.

"I don't know if he likes girls." I told her. "I mean, I've never seen him with a girlfriend or anything."

"Is he gay?"

"I don't think so. But isn't his relationship with Ray a little weird?"

"Gay incest?"

"Actually no." A voice that I really didn't want to hear said from behind us. "He's just friend, parent, nanny, and big brother in one person." Adam explained as Cecelia shrieked and we both dropped into the water.

"Adam!" I shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"Just out for a midnight stroll." He said, though he was turning red almost as fast as a traffic light. "I'll be going now. Carry on."

And he walked off.

"There really is a god." Cecelia said happily, looking up at the spangled heavens. "I ask for hot guys, and, poof, Adam Eyecandy appears."

"I'm leaving." I told her. Stupid Adam, always ruining my fun. "I'm just going to wait until 'Mr. Eyecandy has gone."

Unfortunately, after Adam had disappeared into the darkness, another figure came into view. Even though his face was thrown into shadow, you couldn't miss the mask.

"I'm not going to tell you to put clothes on." He said as he neared. "But I think it highly inadvisable to remain as you are in the presence of dangerous men."

"Are you referring to yourself?" I asked rudely.

"Is there any other men in the vicinity, or does your friend share your cross dressing tendencies."

"I'm a girl." Cecelia shouted form deeper water.

"That's what they all say." The Second Violin winked at me. "So, Nathi, are you leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"When are you thinking about arriving at school?"

"I'm not sure yet. Hey, can we have this conversation when...you know...I'm dressed."

The Second Violin bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry." He said sarcastically. "Does this make you uncomfortable?"

"Shut up."

"I was the one who told you to get dressed."

"I'd have to get out of the water to get my towel." I explained, pointing to my striped beach towel out of reach from the waves.

"Have you been practicing this summer, Nathi." The Second Violin asked.

"Can't we talk about this later?" I asked again.

"Right. I forgot." He tapped his head. "Selective memory."

"Go away."

The Second Violin flashed me a big smile and left.

"What, exactly, was that?" Cecelia said, wrapping herself in her towel.

"A perfect sample of the average attendees at Lakewood Academy. Can't you just wait for school to start again?"

ADVENTURES AT THE OTHER BLAKE ESTATE PART FIVE

The Blake chateau had been totally redone on the inside. Cecelia and I descended the huge marble staircase into a room full of well dressed people sipping champagne. I was reminded of the party scene from The Sound of Music, but didn't have much time to dwell upon it, for I had to decline the hors d'oeures offered to me by a waiter and looked up to find that Cecelia had crossed the room and was now chatting with Benjamin, who was quite cute, if you looked at him from a distance.

Neil looked amazing in his black tuxedo. It was the first time I had seen him all day, and the sight of him made me want to sequel with girlish pleasure, but I had to refrain from it. I tried to get in the line forming to shake his hand, but I literally ran into a short figure moving in the opposite direction.

"Sorry." I said automatically and looked down.

"So, are you a guy or a girl?" Simon, a boy I had met earlier this summer, asked, looking up at me. He was my age, but looked about eleven years old. Apparently, he was some child prodigy and liked my androgynous qualities. "Never mind. Don't tell me." He raised and hand and put it on my chest. "Yep, you're a girl."

"Hey!" I slapped his hand away. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"What is the fuss about? I'm going to marry you anyway. And I'd also like to add that I'm glad I'm marrying a girl."

Oh yeah, Simon had been my first ever marriage proposal. "I hardly even know you." I told him. "I'm not going to marry someone I don't know."

Simon opened his mouth to convince me otherwise, but Benjamin arrived holding two champagne flutes. "Simon, you know Ethan?"

"So that's what they call you." Simon said to me. "Well, Ethan, I'm staying with the Feildmans for the rest of the summer, if you want to come and 'get to know me.' If not, I'll see you at school." He left, sipping his drink.

I took several steps before Geoffrey, Neil's young uncle who speaks entirely in bad poetry, found me.

"Fair maiden or most beautiful man." He called to me. "It seems the dreams hast not yet ended, for mine eyes have been graced with your presence once more." He took my hand in his. "Allow me the honor of touching your delicate hand to my unworthy lips."

I ripped my hand away before he could kiss it. "No, thanks." I told him. "I have to go see...um...Butterfly."

I ran away as fast as it was possible in a high society party. That is to say, not very fast.

The dancing had begun, and a small orchestra played in the corner of the vast ballroom. I caught glimpses of Neil's father dancing with a beautiful woman I could have sworn I had seen before (She was an actress, as I later realized), and Ray being hugged by a beautiful girl in a rose colored dress. Cecelia attempted to converse with Butterfly, but, even without hearing the words being said, I could tell she was failing miserably.

I greeted several Lakewood students, made small talk with rich strangers, and managed to avoid dancing with every who asked. After an hour or so had passed, Cecelia found me by the ice sculptures. We talked for awhile, and then I asked her where she had gotten her dress.

"Some bastard felt me up." Cecelia replied angrily. "And, to make matters worse, it fits perfectly. Even the bra." She gave a fake sob. "I can't believe I let that asshole steal my second base virginity."

That asshole (Adam) arrived and handed Cecelia another champagne. "Are you unsatisfied by the dress?"

"Not really." Cecelia replied. "But how did you guess that I liked little roses so much?"

I looked at Cecelia's dress and examined it thoroughly. "Where are the roses?" I asked, finding none.

Cecelia and Adam shared a smile. I excused myself to 'go to the bathroom.'

I did end up in the bathroom, which was a lavishly designed and beautiful place to be, with ivy and comfy chairs and pillows to sit on, making this the fist real restroom I had ever seen. And, seated on a fluffy red sofa and looking slightly haggard, was Neil.

"Hey." I said when I entered. "I thought only girls spent a long time in the bathroom."

Neil sighed. "I'm just a little tired."

"A little?" I repeated, taking a seat next to him on the couch. "You look like you've been working all day."

"I have." Neil sighed again. "My first day being sixteen, and I spend it trying to beat up my father and at a boring party."

"It's not boring."

"Don't lie to me, Ethan." Neil closed his eyes and leaned against the back of the sofa. "Your honesty is refreshing in this world."

I wished then, at that very moment, that I could tell him everything, that my entire existence at Lakewood Academy was a lie, that I wasn't really a boy, and that I was sick of having girls chasing after me. But I didn't. Instead, I just swallowed the guilty lump in my throat and thanked him.

"I better go." I said, and began to stand up again.

"No." Neil said sleepily, eyes still closed. "Stay with me a little longer."

I did stay. I waited by his side until his steady, deep breathing made me want to doze off too. I gently lifted his head (it had fallen onto my shoulder at some point) and propped some pillows beneath it. "Happy birthday." I said to the sleeping hottie and left.

"So that's where you were." Cecelia said as she found me only moments after I left the bathroom. "I've been looking *hiccup* everywhere for you." She hiccuped again, and swayed slightly in her high heals.

"C, maybe you've had a few more drinks than you can handle."

"It's all legal here." She said, her speech slurring a bit. "There's not a *hiccup* *giggle* drinking law or something here."

"Yes, France is like that." I said slowly and clearly. Maybe, she might understand. "Why were you looking for me?"

"There's some creeper *hiccup* in a mask. Really...hot. He's...ah...looking for you by the *hiccup* fountain."

"Thanks." I left my best friend with a butler and went outside, where a figure stood on the fountain ledge.

"Good evening, Nathi." The Second Violin said without turning around.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He turned around, a black mask covering the upper half of his face. "Can I not also celebrate the birthday of a dear friend?"

"Neil's your dear friend?"

"Not really. We're more like acquaintances." He smiled. "I just came because I knew you'd be here, and I was in Paris anyway."

"That makes me feel warm and bubbly inside." I replied sarcastically. "Why me?"

He leapt lightly off the fountain. "Why not you?" He asked.

"Don't answer my question with another question. And who the hell are you, to be coming and going to other people's parties at your whim?"

The Second Violin chuckled slightly and put a finger to my lips. "Didn't you promise not to ask about my identity?"

"Didn't you promise to stop being a whimsical idiot?"

"Now who's answering questions with questions, my dear hypocrite." He smiled, and I was caught.

"Weirdo in a mask."

"Cross-dresser."

"I bet you sold your soul so you could play the violin so well."

"And if I did?"

I hesitated. "I don't know. You'd still be a creeper."

He laughed. "Good-bye, Mr. Smith." He said, and walked away in the direction of the driveway.

Why is my life comprised of such strange people? I asked myself. I found no answer all night.

ADVENTURES AT THE OTHER BLAKE ESTATE PART FOUR

Suffice it to say, the morning of July the thirty, Neil's birthday, did not go so well. After trying to get Ishtar to stop crying and Ray asking why it was so bad for people to sleep in the same bed, Cecelia, the other guests staying at Neil's house, and I went to breakfast, which was a splendid affair during which I probably gained at least two pounds. The birthday boy, however, was not present. Adam said he was training at the gym and probably wouldn't be back til mid morning.

"You should go riding." He suggested. "How often to you get to ride horses descendant from the Arabian stallions that the pharaohs used to pull their chariots?"

So, even Neil's horses were from prestigious families. I really didn't fit in well here.

But, I did fit quite nicely in a pair of riding breeches. Unfortunately, I fit so well in them that my feminine legs were quite apparent. I told the maid who brought the pants that I suddenly remembered my severe allergy to hay, and I'd have to decline the invitation to ride.

Eventually, four o' clock rolled around, and the maid returned with a perfectly fitted (for a guy, at least) three piece suit. I dressed and met Cecelia, looking beautiful in a purple silk dress, in the hallway.

"Shall we?" I asked.

"We shall, Ethan."