"Alright, I think we need to go over this one last time so that we all understand just how this happened." Sandra said, pacing in front of the couch that Liam, Max, and Donna was sitting at. "So Liam got a call from the Princess of France. She needs a bodyguard because someone is trying to kill her. Liam ends up being the lucky chosen one. He of course doesn't believe it, like all of us would, until the FBI comes knocking at his door. That kinda pushes it over into reality." Sandra paused for a breath.

"And that's when the FBI tells Liam that he was chosen for protecting the princess and that if he didn't his father would be reinstated into the military despite his age." Max said, continuing.

"But I didn't need the motivation. I went with it anyway." Liam said.

"That's the part I don't get. Why did you go along with it?" Donna asked.

"I had a feeling that it would be a mistake not to do it." Liam said as if it was the most simple thing in the world.

"Ugh! You and your feelings!" Donna said, standing up and going to the counter. They where at the cafe after hours.

"Anyway, moving on." Sandra said, wanting to be back in control. "When they offered you money, you turned it down. Instead asking for conditions."

"And that's the part I don't get." Max said. "Why turn down money?!"

"Shut up Max. There is more than money to this world." Donna said, walking up behind him.

"You want to fight?" Max said, peeved.

"Anyway!" Sandra yelled. "You asked that they give you an apartment with the princess, her butler, and Tarja."

"To keep me sane." Liam said.

"Liar." Donna said. No one knew Liam like Donna did. "You want her there because she's on Joseph Stark's hit list. Not only that, you know she feels safe around you, and you like that."

"Is that a question?" Liam asked, not looking at Donna.

"More a statement. Continue Sandra."

"Donna brings up a point. You asked the FBI to look into the serial murderer Joseph Stark, and to give you reports whenever they found something. But not only that. Going back to what I said before about getting an apartment with Tarja, you also asked for her to receive a full ride at the same college that we are going to." Sandra stopped, thinking.

"How did you talk her into going to college?" Max asked.

"Once she heard that I was going, she wanted to go to." Liam said.

"Well, that solves the always staying at your house problem." Max finished.

"I think that's all." Sandra said.

"Not quite. You forgot to mention that it was an on campus apartment." Donna said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Sandra asked.

"Just useless information I thought that I would slip in there." Donna said, a big smile on her face.

"Alright, that's the end of all this explaining. We need to close up shop and get home. We move in tomorrow." Max said. He was right too. Tomorrow was moving in day at the college. It was a long way away, so they were all going to pile into Liam's car and drive down there. It was a seven hour trip. They were looking forward to it greatly.

"Say Liam, when do we get to meet Tarja?" Sandra asked.

"Tomorrow, she'll be driving down with us. I thought I told you guys that." Liam said.

"Just making sure. I guess I just can't wait to meet her." Sandra said.


The next day everyone meet at the cafe and started to get into Liam's car. "Shot gun!" Max called, headed for the front seat. But Donna grabbed him from behind and threw him into the back seat.

"You are in the middle." She said, getting in beside him.

"But I just called shot gun!" Max complained.

"Don't you get it?" Donna asked.

"Get what?" Donna nodded her head to the front. Liam was sitting in the drivers seat and Tarja was in shot gun. She was really nervous looking, starring at her feet and playing with her fingers. But when she looked at Liam, he gave her a bright smile and she brightened a little and smiled some herself.

"Nope, I still don't see it." Max said.

"Just shut up and stop whining." Donna said. They started off, having already said good bye to their families. The drive was particularly uneventful aside from some bonding between Tarja and the others. The trip took 6 hours due to lack of traffic. It was still light out when they arrived. Things got a bit confusing from there. From finding the right lot to park in, to finding the main building, and then finding the right building that the dorms and apartments where in. It was a mess and it took them 3 hours to do it. They all worked together and first found Max's dorm for him since he had no sense of direction. Then they found Donna's and Sandra's dorm. They were sharing a double dorm for two people. And lastly, Liam and Tarja found their apartment. Everyone was already in their new homes for the school year, so the two were alone standing outside the door.

"So, what are you expecting?" Tarja asked, not taking her eyes off the door.

"I have no idea." Liam asked.

"What's you sixth sense say?"

"I don't have a sixth sense." Liam said. That's when the door opened. Standing in the doorway was an elderly old man. He stood up straight and tall. He head was covered not in gray hair, but shining silver hair. He also a mustache on his lip. His eyes were a bright green and had the obvious spark of life in them that people tend to loss to age.

"May I help you?" He asked.

"Yes, this is our room." Liam said. The man brightened.

"Then that would make you Liam and Tarja." He said, sounding happy. "Please come in!" Liam and Tarja did so. They found themselves in a kitchen/ dining room/ living room set up. There was five doors leading to other rooms. Liam could guess what these doors lead to. Four different bedrooms and a bathroom. He also saw a closet, but that really doesn't count as a room to him.

"This apartment is... nice." Tarja said.

"Thank you. I arranged the furniture myself." The old man said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Wilfred. Her Majesty's personal butler. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He bowed slightly

"It's nice to meet you!" Tarja said with a giggle.

"I'm sure you are eager to meet Her Majesty in person. Please wait while I summon her." Wilfred said, walking into one of the bedrooms.

"Wow, he's really nice." Tarja said, a smile on her face. But when she looked at Liam, he wasn't smiling. "What's wrong?"

"This isn't good. He can't act like that anymore." Liam said, a frown on his face.

"Why not?"

"It stands out too much. If the people who are after the princess were to see him talking like that, they would be on us in a second."

"Oh. Then that's not good." That's when Wilfred walked back into the room.

"May I present to you Her Majesty, the Princess of France." Wilfred said, standing beside one of the doors to a bedroom. It was now open. And from there a girl entered the main room. She looked about 18 years old. She had long black hair that reached down to the middle of her back. She had bright green eyes. She looked at both Liam and Tarja with disdain and a little tolerance.

"Really? This is him? He was a lot cuter in the picture. And who is that... girl?" She asked. Her voice had obvious disappointment in it.

"Nice to meet you to." Tarja said with a little attitude.

"You! I command you to stop being snotty to me!" The Princess said pointing a finger at Tarja.

"Okay, that's enough of that." Liam said, stepping in between Tarja and the Princess as Tarja was about to charge. Liam turned to the Princess. "What's your name?" He asked. The Princess seemed taken aback by this.

"How dare you address me directly like that!" She said, obviously shocked.

"Would you stop acting already? We don't have time for this." Liam said. The Princess was shocked.

"How did you know?" She asked, suddenly losing her looks of disdain and her tone of disapproval.

"Had a feeling. Now what is your name?"

"Uhh... it's Penny." Penny said, looking down and blushing a little.

"Nice to meet you Penny. I'm Liam. Your body guard. This is Tarja. A very good friend of mine." Liam said, looking into one of the rooms that Penny didn't come out of. He left the door open, revealing that it was the restroom. He moved on to another door.

"Uhh... It's nice to meet you. And sorry about acting that way." Penny said, watching him go.

"You don't have to apologize. You act that way because you are nervous around new people you have just meet. Am I right?" Liam asked, not even looking at her when he asked it. He closed the door he was just looking in, discovering it was Wilfred's room.

"Uhh... Yes. How did you know that?" Penny asked, watching Liam go from room to room.

"Just a feeling I had." Liam said, moving on to another door.

"Why are you talking to me so casually?" Penny asked.

"How else should we talk to you?" Tarja asked, walking up behind Liam. "Is this room empty?"

"Yes. Why? You want it?" He asked her, not turning around.

"Yes, I do." Liam just walked to the only door that he hadn't looked into yet.

"Then I guess this is my room." He said. He picked up his back pack and went in. Tarja picked up her bag and went into her room too. A minute later, Liam came back into the main room. "Okay, we all need to have a talk." He said. Tarja came into the main room at this point. "As all of you should know, you are all being targeted. All three of you."

"Even Wilfred?" Penny asked.

"Even Wilfred. He's been your butler for life. He knows how you live and could be held as ransom for you." Liam said. "And because of the potential danger all of you are in, I am here for your protection. I'm not much, but being discrete and hidden is better protection than a swat team in this situation. And I can't say with all of you all the time. I'm going to have homework and other stuff to do.  So I'm giving all of you an emergency number. It will call a special cell phone that I have that will always be with me and always be on. If you fell that you are in danger, really danger mind you, not little things, then give this number a call." Liam gave them all the number. "Other than that, try not to draw attention to yourself." He finished. "Oh, and Princess. Have you ever done this before?"

"Yes, we have done this many times." Penny said, looking down at her feet.

"Yes, sometimes in the middle of running away from her parents." Wilfred said cheerfully.

"Wilfred!" Penny said. But Liam laughed a little at this.

"Good, then you know how to act. And don't be so nervous, we are your friends here." Liam said with a smile. This made Penny look at him in curiosity. No one had ever treated her like Liam had so far. Penny liked it. She gave a small smile to him and one to Tarja, who returned it. "Now, I'm going to bed, been a long day for me. Goodnight." Everyone else said their good nights and everyone went to bed.


"A rapper! Can you believe how lucky I am? I got another music major as my roommate. And it is awesome!" Max was really excited. It had been a whole month since everyone had gotten moved in. They had already had their first week of classes. Everyone had been acquainted with Penny and Wilfred the day after moving in. They had all been hanging out ever since then. Wilfred had gotten along with everyone very well. He was a kind and sociable old man with many fun stories about his past. It was like having a fun grandfather around. He also made an excellent cook.

But Penny was a different story. She was very cut off from everyone. Liam thought she was shy, but not this much. When everyone would be sitting at a table chatting, Penny would be sitting there quietly starring at her feet. Liam felt that it was time to do something about this. She was going to be his roommate for the whole year, so he might as well be friends with her. So one day, when everyone else had left for class Liam decided to try and talk to her. It was only him and Penny in the apartment at the time.

"Penny, do you have a problem?" Liam asked straight out with no warning.

"W-what?" Penny asked.

"Do you have a problem with me or any of my friends?" Liam asked.

"No. Of course not. Why do you ask?"

"Because you never talk to any of us."

"Oh, right. It's not that I'm shy, it's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just, you have a great group of friends and you guys get along with each other very well and I didn't what to come in and ruin it for you guys." Penny said while looking at her feet.

"Is that all?" Liam asked.

"Yes."

"Penny, you don't have to worry about splitting up my group of friends. We are stronger than you think. You can talk to us and hang out with us all you want to. We won't have a problem with it." Liam said solemnly.

"But I've seen it happen before. I'll come into a really good group of friends and they will seem close to each other, but it all gets ruined when I come in. They all start fighting and they end up slitting up in the end. And it's horrible for me to watch knowing that it was because of me." Penny said this still looking at her feet.

"Penny. It wasn't your fault."

"W-what?"

"If a group of friends could be split up by a single person, than they weren't that close a group a group in the first place. It would have happened to all of those groups you are talking about sooner or later, whether you were there or not. All you did was just have bad timing. And you don't have to worry about that happening with us. We are stronger than that. You won't ruin our group."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Now go find Tarja and get to class. You're going to be late." Penny nodded and gathered up her stuff. She went to the door.

"Liam, thank you." She said smiling at him. Then she left. Lima smiled to himself and went to his room, pulling out his laptop.

"You know..." Wilfred said suddenly stepping into the room. Liam almost jumped, not knowing that he was there. "... you are the first person to ever invite Penny into a group of friends. No else has ever done that before."

"Okay. I'm sorry to hear that but happy I could help. But why tell me?" Liam asked, eyeing him wondering how sneaky he could be.

"I just wanted you to know how important it might turn out to be for her." Wilfred said, stepping back into his room and closing the door. Liam thought about this for a moment before turning back to his computer. He turned on the radio for some background noise. He always worked better with background noise. It was tuned into the college radio station. Liam got to work and about ten minutes after he turned on the radio, he heard the last person he expected to broadcasting as the DJ. It was Max.

"Hello people! This is your DJ Maximilian! And I'm taking it to the max! That is one of the corniest things I have ever said. Starting today I am going to be your DJ for the mornings, taking your music requests on our website at www.-" That's when Liam's cell phone started to ring. He pulled out his regular cell and saw that it wasn't ringing. That's when he realized that it was the emergancy phone. He quickly pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. It was Penny. Liam answered.

"Penny? What's wrong?" He asked.

"It's the sub, he's that one guy that you and Tarja were worried about."

"Which guy? What about him?"

"That Joseph Stark guy. The serial killer from Hawaii. He's here as the sub. He just took our class hostage! He's going to kill Tarja!"