The following week had started, but it was only 1:34 AM. The second week of the academy would officially begin at 8:30. With this timing, you would think that all the students would be asleep, but some people can't help waking up in the middle of the night.

Maria's throat was parched; it needed water. She sat up from her bed, half asleep, fighting her sleep demons.

"Cough. Cough", her body couldn't go back to sleep. With that, she was forced out of her bed to get water. She slowly unwrapped the blanket off her and unwillingly stood up. The warmth of her bed was calling her, and Maria's body was dissipating heat. She didn't want to leave, but her throat was so dry. It was hard for her to make any noises. She rubbed her eyes and stumbled her way out of her room. She swayed from side to side, not turning on the lights, only using the moonlight shining through the balcony to navigate her way to the kitchen. When she reached the kitchen, she opened the faucet and carefully washed her face and eyes with cold water. She grabbed a glass drying on the side and filled it. She sipped the drink first, letting the cold water heal her throat. She looked up from her glass and looked at the room. It was like she was in a dream. She was entranced by how beautiful the room looked due to the moonlight illuminating it. Caught in the moment, she wandered towards the balcony to see the moon more clearly. When she reached the balcony door, she was amazed by the sight of it. Eagerly wanting more than just visuals, she wanted to feel the cold air and be a part of the atmosphere. She opened the balcony door. It felt like she was in front of a portal between reality and dreamland. She stepped out, and everything hit at once. The cold air kissed her face, the sound of the wind whispered in her ear, the smell of the fresh air, the cold air enhancing the cold taste of water she had moments ago and the visual of the moon in front of her. All her senses got to experience something different the world had to offer. It was a dream-like experience. Was it always like this late at night? Her eyes were focused in front of her, but she noticed something in the corner of her left eye. She instinctively turned her head to the left and saw Malakai leaning on his balcony's railing. Was this a dream?

Malakai turned to look at her, surprised someone else was awake

"Yo".

Maria, trapped in the moment, just stared at him for a few seconds before replying,

"Hey".

Maria took a few steps to the right to get closer to Malakai's balcony. "Why are you on the balcony?" she asked, staring at him, trapped by his presence.

"I can't sleep. What bout you?" Malakai replied, standing up from his leaning position.

"I went to get some water because my throat was dry. Then I saw the moon and wanted to see it better", Maria was holding her glass of water with both hands. "How long have you been out here?" she asked.

"Not that long. I was in bed and couldn't sleep, so I just thought, lemme look at the sky", Malakai said. He shifted his attention to the stars, "It calms me down. It reminds me that the world can be beautiful sometimes".

Maria joined Malakai in looking at the stars. They both watched the night sky for a few seconds. Maria turned slightly to look at Malakai, who was admiring the sky. He had a look in his eye that was different from all the other times she'd looked at him. She couldn't figure out what had changed, but it definitely was different. Whenever Maria looked at Malakai, he always had something different about him; it was like she was learning more about him only by looking at him. That interested Maria, and she wanted to know more about Malakai because of those different looks. Maria wanted to keep talking. It was the first time they could properly conversate one on one,

"You said you were from the UK. Why did you come to America?" she asked, taking the first step.

Malakai blinked to snap himself out of the moment and then turned to Maria, "To come to this academy. My friends told me to, so I did".

Maria finished her glass of water and placed the cup on the floor. "Do you mean your friends now? How did you meet them?" she asked.

"Online. We've been friends for like two or three years", Malakai said, breaking eye contact. He looked at the sky to act out and reminisce the memory in his head. "It was so random. I was just playing by myself and thought, let me join a public lobby. Next thing you know, I joined a lobby with those five", Malakai looked down, "I didn't really wanna speak, but I got pressure into talking, so I put my mic on, and yeah, the rest is history. We kept winning as a team, so we decided to become friends. From that day on, all of us kept speaking in the group chat we made", Malakai looked at Maria, who looked like she was invested in the story. "All of us aren't the same age though".

"You're not?" Marai asked.

"Nah, David, William, and Lucas are nineteen. Me, Benjamin, and Ray are eighteen".

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"Who's the youngest?"

"Heh, Me. My birthday is in July. July 10th".

"Woah, Mines December 9th".

"That's in a few months. Need to remember that date", Malakai said, smiling at her.

Hearing that made Maria's heart skip a beat.

"But yeah, all of them had met and planned to come to this academy. I couldn't link with them because I was in England, but they told me all about this academy and how much fun it would be. So I thought, why not?" he said.

"What about your family? Where they not against you coming?"

Malakai smiled, "Yeaa, at first they were against it, but they saw how much I wanted to go, so they let me", Malakai said slowly. He looked up at the sky again, "I miss them, obviously, but you have to make sacrifices sometimes".

Maria looked at Malakai's eyes, which were focused on the sky, and there were stars in Malakai's eyes with how they reflected onto them in the sky.

It looked like a movie scene. She could tell Malakai was grateful and blessed to come to this academy and that he loved his parents for allowing him to attend.

"I'm sure they're happy for you and miss you too", Maria reassured him.

"Yeah. What about you? Were your parents against it?" Malakai was asking the questions this time.

"No. My parents are always happy with me. They support whatever I do", maria replied. "Tanisha told me about this academy, and I looked into it and found it interesting. I asked my mom if I could join, and she was happy that I wanted to do this".

Malakai showed a gentle smile like one you would give a child. "That's nice", he said. Then, he leaned over the balcony railing again and turned his head to Maria to ask, "How is your life?"

"What do you mean?" Maria was confused.

"I didn't know until my friends told me, but you're the daughter of a celebrity. Life must be good, no?" Malakai realised he may have been too direct and rude again. He was a little worried about being too casual, so he has been holding back with his slang and how he spoke. "Oh shit, that might've been a bit too personal".

"No, no, it's fine. It's a normal question", Maria said, shaking her head. "My life? I mean, yeah, my life is good. I'm not spoilt or anything. Maybe when I was younger because my mom spoiled me, but when I got older, I stopped asking for things".

Malakai laughed a little.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked, confused because she didn't say anything funny.

"It's funny you had to clarify you're not spoilt. Typical rich kid shit to be spoilt and condescending", he explained.

"I'm not like that, I promise", Maria pouted.

"I ain't saying you are. Don't worry", Malakai smiled.

Maria looked at Malakai's scar across his nose. Something that always stood out was his scar; it made him different and unique. It was the thing most students remembered about him. His scar across his nose.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get that scar?" Maria cautiously asked.

Malakai touched his scar, "This? When I was younger, I was running, and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going because I was looking behind me. Then, when I turned my head to look forward, the corner of the table sliced my face, and I bumped my nose with the corner of the table".

"Ouch", Maria said, holding her nose and envisioning the scenario.

"I was crying for hours. Apparently, I don't remember though", Malakai joked while rubbing his neck.

Maria giggled. "Of course, you don't remember that part".

Maria let out a big yawn as she was still tired. Seeing Malakai gave her a little stamina boost, but that was wearing out. Malakai noticed and yawned as well, even though he wasn't tired. He saw Maria was still sleepy, so he played it off as he was tired.

"We've been talking for a long time. I think I can sleep now", Malakai said for Maria's sake.

Maria looked at Malakai,"No, I don't want to sleep. Not yet", she thought. Maria did not want the conversation to end, but her eyelids were heavy and wanted to drop. She yawned again. It was no use. It was time for bed.

"Yeah, let's talk out here again, but much earlier", Maria smiled.

"We'll see. I'm a pretty busy guy", Malakai said sarcastically.

Maria could drop any second; she had to go back to bed. "Goodnight", Maria giggled while waving.

"Aryt, bye".

Maria went back into her dorm and closed the balcony door. She walked like a drunk back to her room while Malakai, who was not sleepy, went back inside and closed the balcony door. He stood inside contemplating playing on the PlayStation, but after a few moments, he gave up on that idea and went to his room. He went to his room, lay on his bed, and covered himself with the blanket. Malakai looked up at the ceiling and was lost in thought for a few minutes. He was thinking about everything but nothing at the same time. He looked at his bedside table and grabbed his phone to check the time. It was a few minutes past two. Malakai put down his phone, turned to his right side, and closed his eyes, waiting to drift asleep.