October- "Hello?"

"Hello?" said Mike into his cell phone. He wondered why Nick was calling him at this hour. This was when he'd supposed Nick generally went to bed.

"Mike?" said Nick, confirming that it was indeed he who was at the other end of the phone. His accent was thick like it always was when he was nervous. Or uncertain. Or both. "Can you come over? Soon?"

Mike frowned. "Soon as in...?"

"Er. Now?" suggested Nick hopefully.

"What's up?" asked Mike, getting out of his slouch. His mind did likewise and realized that there must be something wrong.

"Um, well, it's, er, you see..."

Mike was seriously getting a little worried. "...Nick...?"

"Uh, it's hard to explain over the phone...can you just come over? Quickly? 'k thanks!" He hung up.

Mike stared at his cellphone which, of course, did not display any useful information about the going-ons on the other end of the line.

"Huh," said Mike, who grabbed his keys and went out the door, much to the annoyance of his roommate. His eclectic nighttime schedule could sometimes drive a person nuts, and turn a previously-established nutcase into an accomplice.

Reaching Nick's dorm meant going across about a quarter of the campus, crossing the quad and the library area. Halfway there Mike spotted someone familiar. "Hey Zach!"

Zach stopped and looked around. He had thrown on an oversized jacket that made him look even scrawnier. He was also ruffled and bleary-eyed. "I'm guessing Nick called you too?" He asked without much curiousity, and yawned.

"Have you been SLEEPING already?" inquired Mike, "It's not even midnight yet! Nevermind," he hurriedly added. "Forgot for a moment who I was talking to."

"Right," said Zach. "I sleep two hours before midnight and you consider sleeping two hours after midnight so let's not argue, 'k?" He sighed and rubbed his face. "Don't suppose you know why Nick called?"

"Nope," confirmed Mike. "He wouldn't talk about it over the phone."

"He doesn't seem to be the sort to get into trouble at a party, even if it's Holloween. And if it's really some sort of major crises he probably would've called nine-one-one already." Said Zach.

"He sounded okay...just nervous," said Mike.

They looked at each other.

"Okay," said Zach as they entered the building...the night guard was already familiar with them. "I guess we'll see."

"That we will," agreed Mike.