the r o a d less traveled }}

[Ferris Chase Rockefeller]

When one asked Ferris Rockefeller what he thought was the biggest advantage to attending the prestigious and selective Aspenridge Academy, he would answer candidly and without reserve: the 24-hour dining hall. Not the state-of-the-art practice rooms with brilliant acoustics, not the advanced academic curriculum, not even the award-winning sports teams. Give a boy his food, and he was as content as anything.

It was currently two o'clock in the morning, and they boy in question simply could not sleep. He had classes tomorrow, but his earliest one wasn't until ten o'clock, so he wasn't too particularly worried. He certainly wasn't an insomniac, just a night owl. Although his sleepless state on this particular night might have had something to do with the bag of Twizzlers he'd scarfed down after dinner.

But dinner had been hours ago, and now he was starving. So without a second thought, he tossed on a jacket and made his way over to the dining hall in the main building. When he entered, the two cooks still on duty were huddled together at a table, sipping coffee and laughing lightly.

"Fire up the grill, ladies!" Ferris announced loudly, botching a cartwheel after bursting through the door. After landing rather hopelessly on the ground, he continued with a chuckle weaving through his words, "I have a serious craving for a cheeseburger and it refuses to go away!"

After rolling their eyes at one another, one of the cooks sat up from her seat and headed to the back to cook Ferris his cheeseburger. Happily, the junior picked himself up off the ground plopped into a chair at the nearest table, daydreaming pleasantly of a sizzling hamburger patty, melted cheese, tomatoes, and pickles.

[Aurora Audrina Noble]

There was a strict routine to the small girl. She woke every morning at 6:45, ran, showered, ate breakfast, worked out, went to dance, had lunch, went to dance, had dinner, worked out, showered, slept. However, something had thrown her off of the schedule. That morning, Aurora had woken up at seven thirteen, and she hadn't had a chance to work out before dance. Now, it was two in the morning and she was starving because she had missed dinner to go and work out for a longer period of time. Aurora was a healthy dancer, at least most of the time, unlike a lot of the other girls in the school. She never missed meals unless she was preparing for a recital, and she would always make up the food she'd missed right after that.

After tossing and turning with a rumbly stomach, Rory had given up trying to sleep without getting something to eat. She sighed softly and climbed out of her bed, attempting to not wake her room mate. Rory slipped into a pair of sweat pants and a tanktop with a sweatshirt over the top. The legs of her sweats were bunched up over her knees and she slid into a pair of old jazz flats that she wore for shoes now. Walking slowly out of the dorm, Rory pulled her door shut softly and walked off towards the dining hall.

Aurora pulled her hair up into a high bun as she walked towards the food, she could smell a burger being grilled the moment she walked in the door. "Make me a burger too?" she asked the woman who was already in the kitchen. "maybe some fries too..." she said with a hopeful smile on her face. The woman nodded and smiled back at Rory. Slowly and gracefully, Rory walked into the seating area and saw Ferris sitting at a table. "Fancy seeing you here," she said with a grin and she walked to the table, sitting across from him.

[Ferris Chase Rockefeller]

In almost a direct contrast to the new arrival's poise and gracefulness, Ferris scraped the legs of his chair against the ground as he clumsily pushed his chair closer to hers. A bright smile painted naturally onto his face, he sang, "Rory Rory Bo Borrie, Banana Fanna Fo Forrie, Mi Mi Mo Morrie...Rory!" He then reached one hand forward and completed his greeting with a distinct poke to her shoulder.

Then he leaned back in the chair and stretched out his long, lanky legs beneath the table, feeling himself slide down the chair a bit. "So I'm not the only who gets strange 2 AM cheeseburger hankerings, am I?" he asked, tilting his neck to look at her sideways. An amused laugh was etched across his sharp facial features, highlighting the fact the he was not the least bit tired.

"These ladies are insane, by the way," he added, jerking one thumb toward the cooks on duty. Of course, to Ferris, "insane" was as a high a complement as one could get. "I mean, they're here late at night just so they can cook foor for ungrateful, snot-nosed kids like us. And they probably don't get paid nearly enough. God, I love these cooks. They're like...my heroes." And from the shining look in his eyes, he probably meant it.

[Aurora Audrina Noble]

A soft laugh broke through Aurora's lips as Ferris poked her and sang to her. That was such a "Ferris greeting", at least that's how Rory felt about it. Grinning softly, Rory noticed how he had moved his chair closer to hers, and she really liked that.

"Well, I missed dinner so I'm starved!" she told him with a grin. It wasn't rare for the women in the dining hall to find Aurora shuffling in, half awake to order some sort of sustenance. Rory was devistatingly tired, but her rumbly tummy had not let her rest since she had missed her favorite meal of the night. And she'd missed steak night, which was her favorite night of all.

Nodding gently, Rory's eyes sparkled. "Don't worry ladies, that's a compliment!" she said. Once or twice, Ror had been called insane by Ferris and she grew to enjoy it. "They do rock, hard core," she agreed, nodding sleepily.