Winter kept in mind that skipping class would be only her first offense, and a minor one at that. If she wanted to make it to the detention dungeon, she was going to have to crank the rule breaking up a notch. She paused for a moment, after realizing that there was a slight complication. She didn't know what the rules were. Winter looked around to see if she could find any signs posted that listed rules, but there were none. She cursed herself for not noticing sooner. She shrugged off the self reprimand quickly and focused on the task at hand. She was going to have to wait until someone briefed her on the rules first. Winter shut her eyes for a moment before heading to class late.
When she opened the door, she did it obnoxiously loud so that the attention would go to her tardiness. Ms. Terran seemed to be in the middle of a lecture. She cut herself off and said, "Miss Knight. You're late. Why?" Winter ignored her question to appear more disrespectful and meandered to her seat as slowly as possible without it seeming weirdly intentional. After she sat down, her eyes hopped over to where Mandy and Layla were sitting. The question in their eyes was obvious. "Why are you here? We thought you were skipping class." Winter shook her head dramatically so that they would understand. It seemed to Winter they got the message, as they both looked slightly relieved at the notion she wasn't going to stir up trouble for the moment. Winter calculated how effective it would be to disturb the class during Ms. Terran's lecture, then decided against it. Due to how passive Terran was, not an aggressive, dominance-asserting adult bully like Russo, any interference with her teaching wouldn't get Winter very far. She puzzled over the fact that Jax didn't know why he ended up in the detention dungeon. Winter planned on asking him next time they were together.
The class ended shortly and Winter's friends shot over to her like hornets to a hive. "What is it?" Winter surveyed their classmates for any wandering eyes and then whispered, "In order to break them I have to know them first." Mandy's eyes widened, "The rules!" Layla giggled into her hand and Winter glared at her, "Minor setback. What are they?" Lalya stretched her arms, "If you want to know, you should ask a teacher." Winter grumbled, "Why won't you just tell me?" Mandy shrugged. Winter sighed, "Fine." Mandy ran over to the door, Layla and Winter weren't far behind. They walked together in the hallway, side by side. Winter eyed her friends intently. They didn't pay her any mind.
They were almost in front of class eight when they saw two people talking rambunctiously outside the classroom door. Upon further inspection, Winter recognized one of the boys as Jax and the other one as the grey eyed boy. Mandy murmured to Winter, "Lucas." She crossed her arms, "I thought so." Winter bit the inside of her cheek as she approached them. "Jax Ryan, we need to talk." Jax cracked his neck, "Saying my full name are we now, Knight." The grey eyed boy's stare was relentless. Winter lifted her head towards him, "Who's this?" Jax smirked, understanding that Winter already knew who he was, but was attempting to undermine her own hand. Lucas glowered at her slightly, "Real question is, who are you?" Winter wagged her finger at him, clicking her tongue "None of that. I asked first." He rolled his eyes, "Lucas King." Winter rose her eyebrows, and did a mock bow, "Winter Knight, at your majesty's service." Jax laughed roguishly which was softened by the giggles of Mandy and Layla. Lucas seemed unamused. Winter's thoughts raced. Mandy's girlish voice rang in her ears, "Lucas how was Barcelona?" Lucas's expression lightened as he responded, "Not Barcelona." Lucas glanced sidelong at Jax, "Barbados. And it was nice, to get away. But my family had business to attend to so it wasn't that fun." "Jax, I really need to talk to you." Lucas hardened again and Winter could tell that she was partly disliked. Winter tugged on Jax's arm and walked farther down the hall, the feeling cold grey eyes haunting her. Jax looked at Lucas over his shoulder, "What is it?" Winter snapped her fingers in front of his face to capture his attention, "Eyes on me, he's not going anywhere." Jax mumbled, "You don't know that." Winter moved on, "I need your help considering how to get into the detention dungeon. There was a slight complication in my original plan." Jax nodded, absentmindedly. Winter, annoyed his attention was still elsewhere when she needed his knowledge, said louder "I need to know the rules in order to break them. I asked Mandy and Layla what the rules are, but they were oddly evasive and told me to ask the teachers. I figured that I would have better luck with you." At that, Jax's attention jerked to Winter, "Well it makes sense they didn't tell you what the rules are." Winter furrowed her eyebrows and Jax went on, "No one knows what they are." "What?" "There aren't any rules at Golden Academy High. No explicit ones anyway. You won't find a posted list or a rule book anywhere." Winter blinked.